Ross Greer 'wrong' to say Zionism is racism, says MP with largest Scots Jewish community
Blair McDougall, who represents East Renfrewshire, said Mr Greer was “simply wrong” and accused him of playing “student politics”.
The MP with the largest Jewish population in Scotland has criticised Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer for saying that Zionism is racism.
Blair McDougall, who represents East Renfrewshire, said Mr Greer was “simply wrong” and accused him of playing “student politics”.
The Green Party of England and Wales passed a motion at its conference on Monday which said that “Zionism is racism”.
Zionism is the belief that there should be a Jewish state in the Middle East.
The Scottish Greens are a separate party to the Greens south of the border, but West Scotland MSP Mr Greer said the creation of Israel was "an act of racism".
Asked if he considered Zionism to be racism, Mr Greer told BBC Scotland Breakfast: "Yes."
He said: "You cannot give superior rights in law to one ethnic or religious group. Everybody has to be treated equally before the law, and the reality right now is that that's not the case.
"One group's superiority has got to the point where a genocide is being committed against another group.
"I want Jews, Christians, Muslims, Israelis, Palestinians, everybody to live equally in safety, in peace."
He added: "Jewish people deserve to live in safety, but the creation of the state of Israel was an act of ethnic cleansing.
"It was an act of racism, and I don't understand how how people can say it wasn't."
The English and Welsh Greens motion defined Zionism as an ideology supporting "an ethnonationalist Jewish state". It also backed a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine".
Labour MP Mr McDougall, whose seat has almost half of Scotland’s Jews, said: “Ross Greer is simply wrong.
“He is wrong here in the UK where Jews risk being risk being labelled as racist simply for attending their place of worship or community organisation. This is especially bitter for a community that already feels under racists’ attacks every day.
“He is wrong in Israel because it lumps together those liberal Israelis working for peaceful coexistence and a two-state solution with extremists who support persecution of Palestinians.
“And he is wrong as the rights to self-determination for Jewish people and Palestinians must be mirrors of each other. One cannot argue that Palestinians have a right to security in a homeland of their own but Jews do not.
“Student politics won’t bring peace closer in the Middle East. A politician that cannot criticise the terrible policies of the current Israeli government without stigmatising British Jews should never be allowed anywhere near power.”
SNP MSP Kirsten Oswald, who represents the overlapping Scottish Parliament seat of Eastwood, said that there are “well established legal definitions of racism” and that “we should stick to these”.
She also rejected the idea of a single Palestinian state.
The Scottish Government“There are well established legal definitions of racism, and I think we should stick to these.
“I support a two-state solution – Israel and Palestine have got to live side by side, and we here need to be mindful of the importance of reassuring communities across the board, including our Jewish communities in Scotland.
“It’s important we work to support community cohesion in Scotland”.
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