Proscribe the IDF instead of Palestine Action, says Scottish politician

AN SNP politician has called for the IDF to be proscribed by the government alongside the likes of Al Qaeda instead of the Palestine Action group.

A Holyrood motion proposed by Scottish Parliament backbencher James Dornan and supported by two former nationalist ministers claimed Palestine Action is a “non-violent campaigning organisation”.

It accused the the UK government of being “terrified to show anything but utter compliance and subservience to the Israeli government”.

It urged Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, to “proscribe only those organisations [that] really do, or did, cause a threat to life, such as the Israel Defence Forces”.

The proposal was endorsed by five other SNP MSPs, including Paul McLennan, who until last month was housing minister in John Swinney’s government.

The Board of Deputies chief executive Michael Wegier branded Dornan’s motion “ludicrous”, saying the IDF was defending Israel against clear threats.

“If the IDF did not exist, Israel would cease to exist,” Wegier added.

“Had the IDF not existed since Israel was created in 1948, there would be no Israel. So the only implication of this motion is that it is calling for the dissolution of the state of Israel, which is clearly antisemitic.

“We, as Jews, are not horrified by the idea that people might criticise the Israeli government, but there is a distinction between that and calling for Israel’s dissolution — and the proscribing of the IDF would be exactly that, if it was seen through to its logical conclusion.”

The UK government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation last weekend.