MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) – Palestinian bagpipers in the occupied West Bank are expressing their support for Scotland's independence, saying it mirrors their own struggles, Agence France Presse reports Tuesday.
"Every person wants to be able to decide for themselves. So if they want to separate from the UK, then of course I support them," piper Issa Musallam from the predominantly Christian town of Beit Jala said as quoted by Agence France Presse.
"The Scots used to have bagpipes on the battlefield, so for me, it's part of resistance," another piper, Majeed Qonqar, said, adding that he likes to call bagpiping "an instrument of war."
"As Palestinians, like everyone else, we want our own state," bagpiping scout leader Khaled Qassis said.
"The Scottish want their independence, their state, so they can live in a country that's theirs and theirs alone," he added.
The scout bagpiping tradition was brought to Palestine by the British, who administered the region between 1920 and 1948. Since then, the Beit Jala scouts have turned their music into a distinctly Palestinian tradition.
Some of the land belonging to Beit Jala residents is now threatened with confiscation by Israel, to make way for the completion of the vast separation barrier that runs through much of the West Bank.
More than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have lost their lives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since July 8.
Under an open-ended ceasefire deal brokered by the Egyptian government and concluded between Israel and Palestine on August 26, Israel agreed to open its border crossings to allow humanitarian aid and construction materials to enter Gaza.
Moscow welcomed the ceasefire deal, but insisted on recommencing talks on the establishment of an independent state of Palestine.
Meanwhile Scotland will hold a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom on September 18.
