AN SNP MSP has threatened the leader of the Scottish Tories with legal action after suggestions of antisemitism.
James Dornan issued the warning to Conservative group leader Russell Findlay amid a row over calls for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to be proscribed as a terror organisation.
The UK Government proscribed the group Palestine Action late last week after a claimed £7 million of damage done to two planes at the RAF Brize Norton base on June 20, both of which are again operational.
After the proscription, supporting or being a member of Palestine Action can be punished with up to 14 years in prison. An 83-year-old reverend was among the dozens of people subsequently arrested on terror charges in London over the weekend.
Ahead of the Labour Government’s move, Dornan had lodged a motion at Holyrood opposing it, which was backed by former SNP ministers Paul McLennan and Ben Macpherson, as well as MSPs Stephanie Callaghan, Stuart McMillan, and Evelyn Tweed, and the Greens’ Maggie Chapman, Ross Greer, and Patrick Harvie.
Dornan’s motion said that the UK Government seemed “embarrassed by the actions of Palestine Action and terrified to show anything but utter compliance and subservience to the Israeli government” despite the “ongoing ethnic cleansing of Gaza”.
It urged Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to let the justice system deal with any potential criminal offences from Palestine Action activists, and urged the UK Government to “proscribe only those organisations that, it considers, really do, or did, cause a threat to life, such as the Israel Defense Forces”.
The IDF is actively engaged in breaches of international law in Palestine, including Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Responding to Dornan’s motion, when it was reported by the press over the weekend, Scottish Tory MSP Findlay suggested that criticising the IDF amounted to “antisemitic poison”.
“If they got their way, Israel would be wiped out by Iran and its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah etc,” Findlay said of the SNP MSPs to have backed the motion.
Responding, Dornan said: “No surprise to see you rush to the defence of the perpetrators of war crimes, Russell.
“But if you call me an antisemite again then I will be considering taking legal action.
“I’m anti war crimes and, unlike many of your colleagues, I haven’t been ‘persuaded’ to say otherwise.”
A petition to have the IDF proscribed has garnered more than 13,000 signatures, at the time of writing.
It comes after more than 130 leading charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Gaza issued a joint call for an end to the “deadly” Israel- and US-led aid distribution scheme.
