JOHN Mason has issued a statement after losing the SNP whip over comments he made about Israel.
On Friday evening, the MSP published a series of posts on Twitter/X in which he denied a genocide was taking place in Gaza.
Mason wrote: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.”
It was in response to former SNP MSP Sandra White, who said: “We know what Israelis hope to achieve they are already committing genocide in Gaza”, adding that “innocent children are being massacred”.
On Saturday, a spokesperson for the SNP’s chief whip confirmed that the whip had been withdrawn from Mason (below) “with immediate effect”, because of his “utterly abhorrent comment”.
The SNP parliamentary group will meet in due course, where a recommendation will be made to suspend the whip from Mason for a fixed period of time.
Mason said he was “obviously disappointed” about his suspension from the party, but “that will work its way through the party process in the usual way.”
He said: “My primary desire in relation to Israel and Gaza is that there should be peace talks, negotiations, and eventually peace.
“I would like to see Scotland (and the UK) playing its part as a peace-maker (as Norway has done previously), encouraging all sides to talk and negotiate.
“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.”
Mason repeated his position that Israel was not committing genocide in Gaza.
“However, I personally do not believe that Israel has tried to commit, has committed, or is committing genocide,” he continued.
“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.
“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.”
