AN Edinburgh Book Festival event had to be cut short after John Swinney was heckled by a pro-Palestinian protester over the Scottish Government’s meeting with an Israeli diplomat.
The First Minister was speaking alongside former Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford at an event to mark 25 years of devolution in Scotland and Wales.
Towards the end of the event on Tuesday evening, a woman stood up from the audience and began heckling Swinney over Angus Robertson’s recent meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky.
John Swinney’s event at the Edinburgh Book Festival interrupted by protester who says he had “blood on his hands” over Angus Robertson’s meeting with deputy Israeli ambassador pic.twitter.com/ebxh0PhPq1
— Conrad Landin (@conradlandin) August 20, 2024
She accused Swinney of giving money through Scottish Enterprise to companies “complicit in Gaza”, calling for Swinney and Robertson to resign over the meeting with Grudsky.
On Monday, Robertson issued a statement where he said that the Scottish Government would not meet with their Israeli counterparts again until "real progress" has been made towards peace in Gaza.
He also contradicted earlier reports that Swinney had instructed him to attend the meeting, writing that he had made the decision himself.
The protester claimed that both Swinney and Robertson were “legitimising a genocidal apartheid state” and that Swinney had “blood on his hands” for allowing the meeting to take place.
The event’s host, BBC Scotland journalist Laura Maxwell, said she had hoped to take more questions from the audience but that it was no longer possible.
As the talk ended, the protester was escorted from the venue by security.
Swinney had initially dropped out of the event at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, with Robertson named as his replacement.
However, last Wednesday it was announced that Swinney would be appearing after all, as Robertson’s meeting with the Israeli ambassador began to gain traction in the media.
