Scottish Green MSP Ariane Burgess faces suspension calls after liking post depicting Israeli flag with a blood-covered swastika

From the Newshound archive · first published 11 October 2026.

Ariane Burgess, the Scottish Greens MSP for the Highlands and Islands, is facing demands to resign or be suspended after liking a social media post depicting the Israeli flag bearing a blood-covered swastika. Burgess claimed the interaction was made "in error" and accepted the post was "clearly inappropriate and distasteful." The Jewish Council of Scotland has called the imagery "grotesque and antisemitic" and demanded an unequivocal apology from the MSP.

The post was originally shared by former Green and SNP MSP John Finnie, who has also described Israeli soldiers as 'Nazis in action' and shared cartoons depicting them in Nazi uniforms.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton called Burgess's apparent endorsement "utterly sickening" and urged co-leaders Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay to suspend her immediately.

The row erupts just days after Greer backed the view that Zionism is racist, following the Green Party of England and Wales adopting a controversial motion on the issue.