A Member of Scottish Parliament has been expelled from the Scottish National Party for stating the situation in Gaza looked “nothing like” previous examples of genocide.
John Mason had the whip removed in August after posting on social media that there was “not genocide” in Gaza.
He went on to tell BBC’s Good Morning Scotland that the situation in Gaza was “nothing like” previous genocides.
He was expelled following a meeting of the SNP Member Conduct Committee on Saturday.
Mason criticised the decision and said the party should be able to include “a variety of views”.
On Monday morning, Mason indicated that he may challenge the decision.
The MSP told Good Morning Scotland: "I have the right to appeal so I need to consider whether I’m going to do that or not.
"I will certainly not be joining any other political party. At the moment I am an independent MSP. I was elected for five years and I will keep to that promise of serving my constituents for five years.
“It makes no difference to my work locally.”
He said it "could be argued" that Israel's response to Hamas’s October 7 attack has not been "proportionate" but again reiterated that he does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
"I do not think Israel has committed genocide,” he said. “There’s a war going on, lives have been lost, desperately sadly, as they have been in Ukraine, as they have been in every war.
“There is a difference between war and genocide and to say that every war is genocide, is not the way we use that word.
“When I had the meeting with the committee on Saturday most of the time was spent on a discussion on what is genocide,” Mason said.
The MSP has served Glasgow Shettleston since 2011 and was the Member of Parliament for Glasgow East from 2008 – 2010.
He has 21 days to appeal the decision of the committee.
When Mason was initially suspended by the party, a spokesperson for the SNP chief whip’s office condemned his “utterly abhorrent comment”.
The spokesperson commented: "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.”
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s former Westminster leader, criticised Mason’s comments, saying on X: “You are not fit for public office. You are an embarrassment and not fit to represent anyone.”
The SNP said they would not comment on Mason’s expulsion until the period for appeal has ended and the party did not clarify whether it is now their official position that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
A party spokesperson said: “As the disciplinary process includes the right to appeal, the issue remains live and we cannot comment prior to its conclusion.”
Addressing his ejection from the party, Mason tweeted: “Very disappointed to be expelled from the SNP over my comments on Israel, Gaza, and whether or not there has been genocide.
"I continue to believe that we should be able to tolerate a variety of views within the Party as long as we are all committed to Scottish independence."
The 67-year-old backbencher has previously said he expects to stand down from Holyrood at the next election.
