Scotland Against Antisemitism has
delivered an open letter to First Minister , warning that the
Scottish Government's recent announcement on
Israel risks inflaming antisemitism and further endangering
Scotland's Jewish
community.
The letter has already gathered almost 3000
signatures, including lawyers, politicians,
educators, clergy, students, and concerned citizens across
Scotland and beyond, with numbers continuing to rise.
Scotland's Jewish community numbers around just 5,000 people —
0.093% of the population — yet were victims of 17% of all
religiously motivated hate crimes last year. The letter warns
that language from government risks legitimising this hostility,
emboldening extremists, and deepening the isolation of Jewish
Scots.
Leah Benoz, Founder and Director of
Scotland Against Antisemitism, said:
“The Scottish Government
has no power over foreign policy, and the proposed funding
cuts are tiny and will have no effect on events in the Middle
East. Not one Palestinian life will be saved by these measures,
but Jewish life in Scotland will be put further at risk. Our
question to Mr Swinney is simple; is our safety
really a price worth paying for this kind of gesture
politics?”
The letter calls on the government to:
- Retract inflammatory language,
particularly around “genocide”
- Engage with the Jewish community in
Scotland
- Commit to concrete measures to
protect Jewish safety
Notes to Editors:
- Full text of the open letter is
below
-
Scotland Against Antisemitism is a
grassroots civic initiative launched in 2025 to document,
expose, and counter antisemitism in Scotland. We are committed
to nothing more or less than the equal application of the law
and equalities policy.
- Article published in Daily
Telegraph claims ‘One In Five Britons now Anti-Semitic',
further fueling fears for Jews in Scotland and the whole of the
UK: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/07/one-in-five-britons-now-anti-semitic-poll-claims/
Letter to First Minister Swinney from Scotland Against
Antisemitism
Dear First Minister Swinney,
We at Scotland Against Antisemitism
write with grave concern following yesterday's announcement from
the Scottish Government regarding
Israel.
As you are no doubt aware, our small and increasingly vulnerable
community is living in an extraordinarily hostile environment,
one that has only worsened since October 7th. We number around
5,000 people, just 0.093% of Scotland's population, yet we were
the victims of approximately 17% of all religiously motivated
hate crimes last year. That figure alone should be a matter of
national shame.
The human suffering in Gaza is real and cannot be understated,
nor is it our intention to do so. But we must be absolutely clear
with you about the real-world impact of the
measures your government has announced.
The accusation of genocide is one of the gravest under
international law. It requires an exceptional standard of proof
that can only be met in a court of law by producing
irrefutable evidence of intent. Neither viral
propaganda nor the claims of discredited UN figures such as
Francesca Albanese, who denies proven sexual atrocities and is
accused of misrepresenting her legal credentials, or Tom
Fletcher, author of the immediately debunked “14,000 dead babies”
allegation, are sufficient. For the Scottish Government to
endorse this modern-day blood libel will not
save a single innocent life in Gaza, but it will embolden those
who now use the language of genocide to justify the harassment
and intimidation of Jews here in Scotland.
The Scottish Government holds no power over foreign
policy and no meaningful influence over the State of
Israel. The decision to pull a tiny amount of funding from a
handful of commercial projects will not impact the Israeli
government or change the course of the war. In short, the
only people this announcement will materially affect are Scottish
Jews who are already under siege.
We believe, with sorrow and outrage, that this decision was made
to appease a small, extremist, and increasingly
aggressive fringe of the activist
class, a group whose support is
being courted for political reasons. It appears the government
has calculated that the cost of alienating Scotland's Jews will
be outweighed by electoral rewards.
But in the very week that yet more members of our community are
leaving Scotland for Israel out of fear, we ask
you plainly:
Is our safety really a price worth paying?
We call on the Scottish Government to retract its inflammatory
language and meet with the Jewish community to discuss how the
government plans to protect us — not just in words, but in
action.
Sincerely,
Scotland Against Antisemitism
