I read with some surprise that The Courier columnist Jim Spence thinks councillors and elected members should not be talking about issues of global importance and significance.
I know that multitasking can be challenging for some.
But it is perfectly possible for councillors to raise both domestic and international issues on behalf of those we seek to serve.
The suggestion that we should be disinterested in the world is thoroughly un-Dundonian.
We are, after all, the City of Discovery, and for good reason.
Not only that, but we also have more recently been awarded the UNESCO City of Design, an international accolade of the highest order.
I am enormously privileged to be elected as a councillor in my home city. I am born and bred in Dundee, and proud to be raising my family here.
‘Dundonians concerned about atrocities in Gaza’
Being an elected councillor means representing my constituents in my ward on all matters, from the hyper-local right through to the global.
That’s why I deal with inquiries ranging from graffiti, violence against women and bus stops, to climate change and international relations.
The issue of Palestine is deeply felt by many people in this city, not just by Palestinians or Muslims, but thousands of Dundonians of all backgrounds, many of whom have taken to the streets to protest and call for a ceasefire week after week for ten months.
This solidarity with Palestine is neither recent nor is it partisan.
As many readers of The Courier will know, and be proud of, Dundee is twinned with the Palestinian city of Nablus and has been since 1980.
I commend the Labour administration at the time for securing that twinning in solidarity with the people of Nablus, and for successive administrations for continuing it.
Surely it is my job as an elected member to do as my predecessors, of all political persuasions have done, and speak on all the issue that matter to my constituents?
I can tell you from my inbox alone, the current atrocities in Gaza are of grave concern to many in my ward and across Dundee.
For those like Jim Spence, who think councillors should only be talking about the local bin collections, would they oppose Dundee City Council awarding Nelson Mandela the Freedom of the City in 1985 in opposition to the South African apartheid regime?
‘I am willing to speak out against my party if I disagree’
All elected members – councillors, MPs and MSPs – have a duty to use the platforms they have been given to speak out against injustices, be they at home or abroad.
That is why I have stood with my fellow Dundonians over the years in City Square and spoken in solidarity with our friends in Ukraine, Iraq and Afghanistan, just to name a few, who are suffering so greatly.
As a Scottish-Palestinian, I won’t stop talking about Palestine in either an individual or professional capacity.
It is an issue that is, of course, very close to my heart.
I have family, who I have not heard from in days now, still trapped in Gaza.
Would Jim Spence tell a Scottish Ukrainian councillor to pipe down and not raise the atrocities in Ukraine with the first minister if they had the opportunity to do so?
As well as being a local councillor, I am proud to be the convenor of SNP Friends of Palestine and proud of being in the SNP.
However, I have always made it clear, where I vehemently disagree with my own party, I will speak out.
Often that will be in private with the leadership.
But at times, given my other responsibilities, that will have to be done publicly.
‘No man will shut me up’
That is why I had no qualms with putting out a statement, as convenor of SNP Friends of Palestine, expressing my anger and upset at Angus Robertson meeting with the Israeli Deputy Ambassador and discussing issues that strayed beyond the current atrocities.
A promise I made to the people of Dundee and in particular my West End ward when seeking their trust is that I would always put their interests first.
There cannot be a single person that does not care as thousands of innocent children in Gaza are being killed.
I will continue to speak up and speak out – and trust me, no man is going to shut me up.
Nadia El-Nakla is a councillor for Dundee’s West End and lives in the city with her husband, the former First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf.
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