A ROW has erupted after the committee of MSPs governing the Scottish Parliament declined to fly the Israeli flag outside the Holyrood building.
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), which is made up of four MSPs and the presiding officer Alison Johnstone, refused a Conservative request for the Israel flag to be flown outside parliament.
It comes after Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel from Gaza over the weekend, killing and kidnapping civilians. On Wednesday, Israeli authorities said the death toll had reached 1200 people, with at least 2700 more wounded.
In response, Israel launched a siege of Gaza, cutting off electricity, water, and fuel supplies to 2.2 million people, and bombing targets within the region. Palestinian authorities say at least 900 of their people have been killed, with nearly 4500 others injured.
The UN has said there is “clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed” by both sides since the Hamas attack on Saturday.
The EU’s top diplomat, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, has also condemned both sides of the war, saying that Israel’s siege of Gaza “is against international law”.
In order to show support with the Israeli side, the Scottish Conservative MSP Sandesh Gulhane put in a request for the Scottish Parliament to fly the country’s flag.
But a SPCB spokesperson said: “A request was received to fly the Israeli flag. The SPCB considered the request and approval was not given.
“In this case there was a majority view and no vote took place.”
Reports in the Telegraph say that the SPCB also rejected a request to light up the Holyrood building blue and white, in a show of support for Israel, saying it did not have the facilities required.
Other than presiding officer Johnstone, there are four MSPs on the SPCB: the SNP’s Christine Grahame, Conservative Jackson Carlaw, Labour’s Claire Baker, and Scottish Green Maggie Chapman.
A snap YouGov poll found most UK adults agreed that the Israeli flag should not be flown on government buildings.
However, Conservative MSPs have spoken against the parliament’s decision.
Donald Cameron, the Scots Tory constitution spokesperson, said: “The Israeli flag has been flown at the European Parliament, at the UK Parliament, and at countless other legislatures.
“But not Holyrood. What a shameful moment.”
We stand with 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/dFtOngg4ju
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 8, 2023
And MSP Stephen Kerr wrote: “Parliament’s around the world are showing their solidarity with Israel.
“I’m ashamed and embarrassed that the Scottish Parliament is not one of them. Scotland deserves better.”
No 10 Downing Street had an Israeli flag projected onto it, and the UK Government’s Queen Elizabeth House building in Edinburgh has also flown the Israeli flag.
First Minister Humza Yousaf has spoken openly about having family members trapped in Gaza amid the Israeli siege, and has joined in international efforts to open a safe humanitarian corridor out of the war torn region.
