A Scottish National Party lawmaker has been stripped of the party whip after he stated that Israel is not committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The move by the SNP, which has been harshly critical of Israel’s 10-month war against Hamas, against Glasgow Shettleston parliamentarian John Mason is effective immediately and essentially suspends him from the party.
The swift action against the Scottish MP erupted amid criticism regarding the meeting of Scotland’s External Affairs Secretary and Israel’s deputy ambassador for a standard diplomatic briefing.
Mason infuriated members of his party by posting on social media after the meeting: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed 10 times as many.”
“To flippantly dismiss the death of more than 40,000 Palestinians is completely unacceptable. There can be no room in the SNP for this kind of intolerance,” a party spokesperson said of Mason’s removal. The figure cited is according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties. Israel said last week that 17,000 Hamas terrorists have been killed in the fighting since Oct. 7.
The lawmaker said he was “obviously disappointed” by his suspension, but stood his ground on the war.
“My primary desire in relation to Israel and Gaza is that there should be peace talks, negotiations, and eventually peace,” he subsequently posted on Facebook. “Too many lives have already been lost in Israel, Gaza, and beyond and, as I said when I spoke in Parliament, many people feel that Israel has moved from a position of self-defence to seeking revenge.”
“However, I personally do not believe that Israel has tried to commit, has committed, or is committing genocide. They certainly have the ability to kill many more Palestinians than they have done. That is not to say that the loss of life already is not too many,” he added.
“And we should remember that it is Iran and Hamas who have stated that they want Israel wiped off the map … that sounds more like an intention of genocide than anything Israel has said or done.”
Last month, a former Scottish First Minister attracted scrutiny over a government donation to the terror-tainted U.N. Palestinian aid agency UNRWA while his in-laws were trapped in the Gaza Strip. The day after he made the announcement, his in-laws were allowed to leave the Hamas-run territory via the Rafah Crossing to Egypt.
