John Mason 'completely stands by' Gaza comments after SNP whip removed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An SNP MSP who had the whip removed over comments he made about Gaza says he 'completely stands by' the remarks.John Mason said he did not expect his party to suspend the whip due to his tweet and believed he had done the “right thing”.But SNP Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said the Glasgow Shettleston MSP’s comments were “deeply offensive” and he should “educate himself”.It comes as Angus Robertson – the External Affairs Secretary – faces a continuing backlash from others in the SNP due to his meeting with an Israeli diplomat.But Mason backed Robertson’s decision to meet Israel’s deputy ambassador Daniela Grudsky.He said “I completely stand by the tweet”, as he spoke about the social media post he made about the conflict in Gaza that saw him lose the party whip.He told the BBC: “I thought about it for a long time, and I would like to see Scotland, the UK, acting more as a peacemaker, rather than cheering on either side.“But I put out that tweet because I do feel strongly.

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.”The Glasgow Shettleston MSP said he had not expected to lose the whip but it had been necessary to do the “right thing”.Mason claimed in a social media post last week: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed 10 times as many.”He made his comments after revealing he had also met Israel’s deputy ambassador.McKee said he respected Mason but that his comment about Gaza was “deeply offensive, hugely inaccurate and it’s not in line with the values of the SNP”.He added that Mason should “go and educate himself” on genocide.Discussing Robertson’s meeting with the Israeli diplomat,