Maggie Chapman: Green MSP condemned for 'disgusting and shameful' tweet following Hamas attack

Maggie Chapman was urged to apologise and delete the post

Israeli emergency responders cordon off the site of a rocket attack in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

A Green MSP has been condemned for a "disgusting and shameful” social media post following the Hamas attack on southern Israel.

Maggie Chapman said what was happening in Palestine was “a consequence of apartheid, of illegal occupation, & of imperial aggression by the Israel state”.

She added: “Palestinian civilians have seen their homes destroyed, their water stolen & their land appropriated illegally.”

Scottish Green Party's Maggie Chapman

She made the comments in a post which quoted another user who said: “Don't let the western media fool you into thinking it's terrorism, this is decolonization.”

At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel and more than 400 have been killed in Gaza, over two days after Hamas launched its surprise attack.

It comes as Israel intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip after declaring war and vowing to destroy the “military and governing capabilities” of Hamas.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross condemned Ms Chapman’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He said: “What a disgusting and shameful post from a member of the Scottish Parliament. People are being killed and raped by terrorists yet this is the response from a representative of one of the parties governing Scotland. The post is beyond the pale and has to be called out.”

His party urged Humza Yousaf, the First Minister, to end the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Greens over the comments.

Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw said: “Maggie Chapman’s comments are so unacceptable that Humza Yousaf must end the toxic Bute House Agreement and kick the Greens out of his government. If not, he will be deemed an apologist for antisemitism.”

Mr Carlaw added: “It defies belief that Maggie Chapman can hold views as callous and abhorrent as these while serving on the [Scottish Parliament’s] equalities committee. Her position on that committee is now untenable.”

Scottish Greens external affairs spokesperson Ross Greer said: “Deliberately massacring innocent civilians is a war crime and an act of pure evil. We condemn Hamas without hesitation.

“Palestinians have the right under international law to resist the Israeli occupation by force, but Hamas fighters murdering young people at a music festival and kidnapping wheelchair-bound pensioners is no act of resistance.

“Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine must be recognised as the root cause of these cycles of violence and both Hamas and the Israeli Government held to account for the war crimes they have committed.

"There is no military solution that does not consign thousands more innocent people, Palestinian and Israeli, to their deaths. The only path to peace starts with Israel ending its siege of Gaza and the occupation of all Palestinian territory.

“Half of the population of the Gaza Strip are children, so it is critical that a ceasefire is reached before Israel follows through on the threats issued by its military and political leaders."

A spokesman for the First Minister said: "The First Minister will reply to Jackson Carlaw, but it's crass to reduce the horrendous situation unfolding in the Middle East to our domestic politics in Scotland.

"Maggie Chapman speaks only for herself. The First Minister speaks for the Scottish Government and we are clear the terrorist acts of Hamas are unjustifiable, inexcusable, and we condemn them."