THERE are mounting calls for Holyrood’s ‘Building Bridges With Israel’ cross-party group (CPG) to be suspended amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Campaign group Mothers Against Genocide have written to the Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone asking for the group to be suspended ahead of their next scheduled meeting later this month.
The Scottish Greens, meanwhile, have urged the MSPs involved in the group to “reconsider” whether the group is appropriate given the actions of the Israeli government.
It comes as a United Nations inquiry found that Israel has committed genocide in Palestine – a view shared by the Scottish Government.
Since the October 7, 2023 attack, Israeli forces have killed almost 65,000 Palestinians and destroyed most of the territory’s healthcare infrastructure.
Members of the ‘Building Bridges With Israel’ group include Independent MSPs John Mason and Fergus Ewing, Labour’s Paul O’Kane, Lib Dem Jamie Greene and Tories Russell Findlay, Tess White, Murdo Fraser, Rachael Hamilton, Douglas Ross and convener Jackson Carlaw.
The stated purpose of the group is to “engage with Israel and build links based on business, culture and academia” as well as “exploring and countering issues of antisemitism at home and abroad”.
At the most recent meeting, which was last November, Gaza was mentioned just once according to the official minutes – by Tory MSP Brian Whittle, who stated he was “uncomfortable with the loss of life”.
In attendance was Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky, the same official who met with SNP minister Angus Robertson in a much-criticised meeting (above) several months earlier.
They also talked about the “threat of Yemen, Iran and Lebanon, and how it has stretched the IDF”, while Grudsky thanked the group for the "support received” and expressed shock at “how politicised and aggressive the subject has become”.
They are set to meet again in two weeks, on September 29, and have been approached for comment.
In Mothers Against Genocide’s letter to Johnstone, the group said that it “cannot be in the public interest to allow a CPG whose stated aim is to strengthen links to a state who are committing an ongoing genocide in Gaza to continue”.
They added: “The Scottish Parliament is founded on the principles of human rights; the Human Rights Act holds an integral place in Scotland's constitutional landscape. Allowing this CPG to continue in the face of known facts as to the actions of Israel is an affront to those principles.”
The Code of Conduct of Members of the Scottish Parliament states that complaints made about CPGs are considered by Holyrood's Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.
“Failure to comply with the Code could lead to a Group’s recognition being withdrawn or to sanctions being imposed on individual MSPs,” it reads.
The code also states that if a group is “not in the public interest” when registering, it will “not be accorded recognition”.
But it is otherwise unclear as to what the current mechanism is for challenging the ongoing operation of CPGs at Holyrood.
Mothers Against Genocide, in their letter, told the Presiding Officer that many of its members had been informed that while complaints can be made, there is “no procedure to call for a review over whether a CPG should continue to operate in the public interest”.
The letter from the group concluded: “We ask that this CPG is reviewed and at least suspended while a more thorough investigation is undertaken. While there does not appear to be a mechanism to challenge the ongoing operation of a CPG, we believe this situation has highlighted a gap in the Code of Conduct which should be addressed as a matter of urgency”.
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said:“Questions about the operation of a Cross-Party Group are a matter for the Group itself.
“Any concern that a Group is not operating in line with the requirements of the Code of Conduct can be raised through a complaint to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.”
Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie (above), meanwhile, said that all MSPs “should have the genocide being inflicted on Gaza at the top of their mind”.
"Even those MSPs who felt this group was appropriate when it was formed must surely reconsider now, with the international consensus building that Israel is committing war crimes on such a scale,” he said.
"They should consider the message that they are sending. We should all be standing on the side of humanity, not whitewashing the devastating human cost of collective punishment.
"Every MSP in the CPG should reflect on the devastating scale of the crisis and to use any influence they have to push for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the killing and justice for Palestinians."
