Meeting of the Parliament 26 February 2025
Perhaps, in a moment.
The reality, of course, is that the number of arms that this country is involved in directly supplying to Israel is minuscule, yet Mr Greer, on a megaphone, encouraged people to shout,
“Jackson Carlaw, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide”
at me and a whole lot of 16-year-old apprentices who were here on 21 February last year to attend a reception celebrating their contribution as apprentices. To be jostled, spat at and personally accused of committing genocide was absolutely reprehensible, and I do not see how any of that assists in any way in the argument before us.
The fundamental concern, ultimately, is that people chant
“From the river to the sea”,
which is the policy of Iran. The policy of Iran is to eliminate the state of Israel. If we were to deny Israel the arms to defend itself, which others can argue about in different contexts and in a different way, we would, frankly, risk encouraging Iran—which is, after all, currently on the retreat with the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon and elsewhere—in the view that it can move against the state of Israel and potentially proliferate an even greater conflict and an even greater war. For that reason, to me, it remains fundamental that Israel be allowed to defend itself.
I will finish with the words of Lorna Slater at First Minister’s question time last week, because I think that they are apposite. She said:
“Disinformation is playing an increasingly dangerous role in our communities and our global politics. Promoting lies and misinformation at home and abroad can have serious consequences for all our communities ... Does the First Minister agree that political leaders everywhere must stand up to disinformation?”—[Official Report, 20 February 2025; c 16.]
If only.
15:30