AN SNP MSP has had the whip removed following “utterly abhorrent” comments about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The party confirmed it has taken action following social media comments from Glasgow Shettleston MSP John Mason.
Party officials said that the whip has been removed with “immediate effect” after he posted: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.”
He made the comment amid a row over a meeting between Israel’s deputy ambassador Daniela Grudsky and Scottish External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson.
Removing the whip from Mr Mason, a party spokesperson said: “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.
“The chief whip has today withdrawn the whip from John Mason MSP with immediate effect, pending internal parliamentary group due process.
“The SNP group will now meet to discuss the matter, with a recommendation that the whip be suspended from John Mason for a fixed period of time because of this utterly abhorrent comment.”
Mr Mason said he is “disappointed” at his suspension and that it will “work its way through the party process in the usual way.”
Writing in a post on Facebook after the move was announced, Mr Mason said: “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.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said it was “right” that the SNP removed the whip from Mr Mason.
But he said action must be taken to address the decision for a senior minister to meet with an Israeli representative.
“This cannot be the end of the issue,” he said.
“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.”
Scottish First Minister John Swinney said their meeting was necessary and allowed the Scottish government to put across the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
