{"id":117280,"date":"2024-08-19T15:38:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T15:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/19\/msp-john-mason-stands-by-israel-comment-after-snp-whip-removed\/"},"modified":"2024-08-19T15:38:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T15:38:17","slug":"msp-john-mason-stands-by-israel-comment-after-snp-whip-removed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/19\/msp-john-mason-stands-by-israel-comment-after-snp-whip-removed\/","title":{"rendered":"MSP John Mason ‘stands by’ Israel comment after SNP whip removed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An MSP who was stripped of the SNP whip following an “utterly abhorrent” social media post about the Israel-Hamas conflict has said he stands by his remark.<\/p>\n

John Mason has been effectively expelled from the party<\/a><\/strong> after posting on X: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.”<\/p>\n

The Glasgow Shettleston MSP made the comment amid a row over a meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky.<\/p>\n

Israel has strongly denied accusations of genocide.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Mason said: “It’s never my intention to upset people, but I’m not afraid of upsetting people in the sense of if I think something important needs to be said.”<\/p>\n

The politician said he’d considered the conflict “over time” so it “wasn’t a new thought”.<\/p>\n

He added: “It’s the point of, you know, if Israel actually wanted to commit genocide, it would be a lot worse than it is. I think it’s a valid point, and I stand by that.”<\/p>\n

SNP MSPs will meet to discuss a potential fixed suspension for Mr Mason when the Scottish parliament reconvenes next month.<\/p>\n

The withdrawal of the whip means he must sit as an independent MSP until it is restored.<\/p>\n

The SNP<\/a><\/strong> branded the comment “utterly abhorrent”.<\/p>\n

Mr Mason said: “I am disappointed because I’m SNP to the core.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been representing the party for 26 years or thereabouts, so yes, that’s always going to be disappointing. But it’s not the end of the world.”<\/p>\n

Mr Mason said “one or two” SNP colleagues had been in touch to offer support.<\/p>\n

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Mr Mason said despite negativity aimed at him on social media, his emails have been “overwhelmingly positive”.<\/p>\n

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Mother and her six children killed in Israeli strike<\/span>
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Read more:
One dead after bomb explodes in Tel Aviv<\/a>
British diplomat resigns over war crimes claims<\/a>
Anger in Lebanon after Israeli strike<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The incident with Mr Mason came amid criticism over a Scottish government meeting with Israeli diplomat Ms Grudsky.<\/p>\n

The meeting earlier this month came to light after Ms Grudsky posted a picture on X with External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson.<\/p>\n

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First Minister John Swinney claimed it was “necessary” and allowed his government to directly put across the need for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Mr Mason also met with Ms Grudsky during her stay in Scotland<\/a><\/strong> and shared a picture online which led to him writing the post that has seen him lose the party whip.<\/p>\n

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Mr Mason said he told Ms Grudsky that at some point Israel will have to resolve the conflict.<\/p>\n

He said: “In any of these situations, the same is going to be true in Ukraine and Russia, eventually you have to sit down and talk.”<\/p>\n

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Mr Mason also defended Mr Robertson’s decision to meet Ms Grudsky.<\/p>\n

He said: “That’s Angus’ job, it’s his role. I think it’s absolutely right and he should meet other people.”<\/p>\n

He added: “I would prefer Scotland, and the UK for that matter, to be really promoting peace, really speaking to both sides, really being a trusted friend.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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An MSP who was stripped of the SNP whip following an “utterly abhorrent” social media post about the Israel-Hamas conflict has said he stands by his remark. John Mason has been effectively expelled from the party after posting on X: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.” The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/03\/512x512\/skynews-gfxwhatsapppromo-gfxwhatsapp_6490206.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[603],"tags":[9486,38,496,9301,16476,5028,4356,4083,27893],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117280"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117282,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117280\/revisions\/117282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}