We, as members of Edinburgh Zine Library (EZL) and organisers of Edinburgh Zine Festival (EZF), are writing to highlight and condemn Fruitmarket’s silence in the face of on-going genocide, and their current funding relationship with investment firm Baillie Gifford.
In particular, we wish to address Bailie Gifford’s direct connection to the following companies: Booking Holdings, Cisco Systems and Cemex. These companies own businesses involved in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine and are condemned by key human rights organisations including the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. The 2023 Don’t Buy into Occupation report names Baillie Gifford as one of the top 50 European investors who manage or hold bonds and shares in the 51 businesses condemned for their active involvements in illegal Israeli settlements. This falls into a wider pattern of unethical investment by Baillie Gifford, including investments into fossil fuels that prompted the 2023 walkout by authors at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Baillie Gifford uses the sponsorship of cultural venues like Fruitmarket to artwash their activities and attempt to protect their public image, benefiting from a reputation as a philanthropic funder of culture in Scotland. By accepting funding from Baillie Gifford and not challenging their investment activities, Fruitmarket is complicit in this. If we continue to organise EZF in collaboration with Fruitmarket without challenging this, we are also complicit in this.
Fruitmarket is a leading arts and cultural institution in Scotland. As a platform for and collaborator with Palestinian artists, we believe Fruitmarket has a duty to speak out against the ongoing genocide, which involves the systematic destruction of Palestinian cultural heritage. We call on Fruitmarket to address their relationship with Baillie Gifford by calling for divestment from companies profiteering in Israel, and stand in solidarity with Palestine through a clear public statement.
We ask:
Baillie Gifford to immediately divest from holdings in Cemex, Cisco Systems, and Booking Holdings.
Fruitmarket to immediately pressure Baillie Gifford for divestment of holdings in Cemex, Cisco Systems and Booking Holdings, and to cease accepting all future funding from Baillie Gifford if they do not.
Fruitmarket to immediately reaffirm their commitments to their ‘Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Statement’ by recognising the struggle for Palestinian liberation as inseparable from ‘champion[ing] the rights of people from marginalised groups, including people who experience racism, disabled people, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, women and girls, people from low income backgrounds, working class, and older people.’
We have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with Fruitmarket, and would like to continue to organise Edinburgh Zine Festival in partnership with them. However, we will not be continuing this partnership without Fruitmarket making clear their support for Palestine, and leveraging their relationship with Baillie Gifford in line with all the above demands.
To co-sign this letter, please complete the form below.
Note: We're only collecting email addresses to avoid bots spamming this form. We won't store or use your email address and it won't be published or made public.
