Scottish Greens Councillor Stripped of Membership Over Hamas Comments

An Orkney councillor has claimed that he was expelled from the Scottish Greens following comments he made about the Middle East conflict.

John Ross Scott, who represents Kirkwall East, says he was “ostracized” by the party after expressing his belief that Hamas should remain classified as a terrorist organization on X (formerly Twitter).

The Scottish Green Party has confirmed that Mr Scott is no longer a member. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDR) has also seen the letter sent to Mr. Scott, notifying him of his membership termination.

Mr. Scott argues that his views, which also included support for Israel’s right to defend its borders, were at odds with the Scottish Greens’ position.

He believes these comments upset two of his Green colleagues, who then filed a formal complaint against him.

The Scottish Greens have called for Hamas to be removed from the list of terrorist organizations, which appears to be at the center of the disagreement.

In response to his expulsion, Mr. Scott has said he plans to appeal the decision. “I don’t want to say much regarding the appeal,” he commented, adding, “My concern is that the processes used by the party to ban me appear to break protocol and are fundamentally flawed.”

Scott joined the Scottish Greens in March 2021, after first being elected to the Orkney council as an independent councillor in 2017.

He was one of only two party-affiliated councillors in Orkney, alongside his fellow Green, Kristopher Leask.

Mr. Scott claims that he was unaware of the investigation until a small panel was formed to handle the complaint.

He says he was not invited to attend the hearing or allowed to present his side of the story.

Furthermore, he alleges that only a tiny amount of “unsubstantial evidence” was shared with him and that the decision to expel him was relayed to his local branch before he was officially notified.

“I went on a ten-day holiday on October 15,” he explained. “So, I did not officially learn of my expulsion until October 28.”

Despite the expulsion, Mr Scott intends to continue serving as a councillor and is determined to “clear his name.”