John Mason ‘stands by’ Gaza genocide tweet following suspension

Suspended SNP MSP John Mason has said he stands by the tweet about the Israel-Hamas conflict which saw him lose the whip.

The Glasgow MSP was defending the decision of external affairs secretary Angus Robertson to meet with a senior Israeli diplomat earlier this month.

The meeting has sparked a row within the SNP, with several members and elected politicians calling the decision into question.

MP Brendan O’Hara wrote a letter to party bosses last week saying the meeting would “lend legitimacy” to Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s government and undermine actions taken by the SNP’s Westminster group, which has repeatedly called for a ceasefire.

Mason, who also met with diplomat Daniela Grudsky, argued it was important people “talk to each other”, including those politicians might disagree with.

He disputed the suggestion that Israel was committing genocide, tweeting: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.”

This tweet was described as “completely unacceptable” by the SNP and resulted in Mason having the whip withdrawn with immediate effect.

A spokesperson for the chief whip said at the weekend: “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.”

But speaking to the BBC on Monday morning, Mason said: “I completely stand by the tweet which was making the point that this is not genocide that’s happening.”

He added: “Israel and the Jews in this country as well feel very much threatened and under pressure. Israel is a tiny country surrounded by some very hostile states.”

Asked whether he had expected to be temporarily suspended from the group, Mason said he had not but he felt it important to “do the right thing and just take the consequences”.

And on his own meeting with the diplomat, he said: “I would meet almost anybody who wants to speak to me. If we only meet people we agree with, it would be a sad state of affairs.

“I certainly think it’s Angus Robertson’s role to be meeting people from all around the world. We strongly disagree with China and their repression of minorities and other countries as well, but we should still meet these people, we should still talk to them because, again, we’re not going to resolve any of these problems – be it in the Middle East or Asia or anywhere else – unless people talk to each other.”

The question of Mason’s suspension will be discussed by the parliamentary group after recess.

But the party is now facing a wider backlash from its membership over Roberston’s meeting. One branch has submitted a censure motion to conference, which will take place at the end of the month.

Government minister Ivan McKee – also speaking to the BBC on Monday – accepted that people were “very angry” about the situation and added there was “no harm” in the government publishing further details about what was discussed.

First Minister John Swinney previously defended the meeting, saying it has been used to “express the Scottish Government's clear and unwavering position on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”.

Reports suggest the meeting request initially went to the first minister but was passed to Roberston as the relevant cabinet secretary.

Asked whether he thought the row would cast a shadow over the party’s conference, Mason said: “My hope would be that we could continue to unite around Scottish independence. Issues like Israel are incredibly important, and Gaza, but they are not central to the purpose of the SNP.”