THE SNP still has “serious questions to answer” on its relationship with Israel following the suspension of one of its MSPs, the Scottish Greens have said.
It comes after the party withdrew the whip from John Mason over comments he made on social media denying that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
A spokesperson for the chief whip said “there can be no room in the SNP for this kind of intolerance” as they announced the parliamentary group would be meeting to discuss the matter further.
The Scottish Greens have said the party still has “serious questions to answer”, particularly over meetings held last week by Mason and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson with a senior Israeli diplomat.
The party called on the Scottish Government to be transparent about how and when the decision was made to meet with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, after it was revealed the meeting was kept a secret for four days after it took place.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (below) said the SNP was “right” to remove the whip from Mason, calling his comments “utterly abhorrent”.
“They minimised the scale of suffering and displayed a total ignorance towards the atrocities that are being inflicted every day on the people of Gaza,” he said.
However, Harvie added that “this cannot be the end of the issue”.
He said: “What has happened to John Mason should not distract from the fact that a senior Scottish Government minister met with a senior representative from a state that has been inflicting genocide on the people of Palestine for the last 300 days to pose for photos and discuss their ‘unique commonalities’.
“Both the Secretary of State for External Affairs and the First Minister have very serious questions to answer about when the decision was made, who made it and why.
“We hope this will be resolved long before the end of recess, but if not we will be demanding an urgent statement while we consider next steps.”
Harvie added: “All governments must act against genocide, whether it is the UK government that is arming and supporting Israeli forces or the Scottish Government which has continued to pour public money into the arms companies who are enabling and profiting from the destruction.”
First Minister John Swinney previously defended the meeting, writing in a statement on Twitter/X: “I thought it necessary to outline our long-standing position on an immediate ceasefire directly, and explicitly, to one of Israel's representatives in the UK.”
The SNP has been contacted for comment.
