John Mason, the Member of Scottish Parliament suspended by the SNP for claiming that Israel is not conducting a genocide, has exclusively told Premier that his treatment shows the UK is becoming “less tolerant”.
Mason, who's a Christian, has been MSP for Glasgow Shettleston since 2011. On 15th August, he was suspended for a reply on X, in which he said: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.”
If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.
— John Mason (@JohnMasonMSP) August 16, 2024
Speaking to Premier, the former SNP member told Premier: “I made my point, and I stand by it.”
Upon removing the whip, an SNP representative 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."
John Mason told Premier: “I think we need more tolerance. We do seem to be a society that’s becoming less tolerant. Freedom of speech only means something if you can say things people disagree with.
“Scotland and Britain are drifting away from Christian values, and one of those is tolerance. It saddens me that we can’t have respectful debate on many issues.”
Mason said he originally “jumped in to support” to his colleague, Angus Robertson, who was receiving backlash on X for meeting with Israeli deputy ambassador Daniela Grudsky.
“He was being severely criticised for even meeting the deputy ambassador,” said Mason, “I think we should meet with almost anybody. If we only meet with people we agree with, how will we ever resolve any problems?”
“There was all this suggestion that Israel was committing genocide. I made the suggestion that if Israel wanted to commit genocide, they could have killed more. If we look at other incidents – Ukraine, Armenians in the past – there’s been much bigger numbers, and intentional killing, rather than what’s happening in Gaza which is the result of war.
“I do not defend everything Israel’s doing. There have been more deaths than there needed to be. I do think Israel has moved from self-defence to revenge.”
It is estimated around 40,000 Gazans have been killed in the conflict so far. When challenged on what would constitute a genocide, Mason said: “I understand [the backlash]. But I think there’s a tendency to hold Israel to a higher standard.
“When I look at the figures of Ukraine, 120,000 Russians have died and 70,000 Ukrainians, and I’ve never heard anyone describe it as a genocide. When we look at the Holodomor, about 10% of the population were killed.
“We shouldn’t use words too loosely. ‘Genocide’ is a very serious accusation… it has to be deliberate.
“When you look at [Nazi Germany], that wasn’t a war, that was a government killing deliberately. There have been too many casualties [in Gaza], but I think Hamas, the government of Gaza, bears a lot of responsibility for that.”
John Mason did clarify that he believes the Israeli government has lost sight of its objectives: “I do think Israel has moved from self-defence to revenge. I was disappointed when I met with the deputy ambassador, that it was unclear what Israel’s trying to do. What is the end game here?”
“I think Israel would benefit from being much clearer on what they’re actually trying to do.”