The sister of a Scot killed by Hamas has hit out at a Scots MP after he described hostages being held by Hamas as the terror group’s ‘bargaining power’.
Laura Schosloff, whose brother Bernard Cowan was killed in the October 7 atrocity, said the language used by Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald was ‘demeaning’ as it treated them more like ‘tools’ than the human beings they are.
Her reaction comes as Mr MacDonald’s party faced growing pressure to suspend him over his remarks.
The outcry came after the MP was asked by a constituent on social media site Facebook if he would ask Hamas to release remaining hostages, and replied: ‘If they release the hostages then Israel will completely obliterate any of Palestine left, it’s the only bargaining power they have left.’
Reacting to his choice of words, Ms Schosloff said: ‘I think it’s demeaning to refer to the hostages as a bargaining tool. Hostages are people. It’s not like you are going to buy a house and bargaining for money.
‘They are people with families and children and people are grieving them because they don’t know if they are alive or dead.
‘They are not just tools. They might have children, wives, brothers, sisters, mums and dads.
‘I think he should be criticised for saying that.’
Mr Cowan, 57, had moved to Israel from Glasgow. He was murdered in his home near the Gaza border in the Hamas onslaught that claimed more than 1,200 lives.
Mr MacDonald has now admitted he was wrong to defend the terrorist group for holding innocent Israelis hostage.
He said his words ‘did not properly reflect what I intended to convey’ and insisted he would never defend or justify the ‘abhorrent holding of hostages’ by Hamas.
But Mr MacDonald, who represents Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, still stopped short of providing a full apology to the families of those held by Hamas.
In a statement issued last night as he faced growing condemnation for the comments, Mr MacDonald said: ‘I was trying to reflect the widely accepted view that Hamas is very regrettably using the hostages as leverage against Israel, but I accept that my choice of words did not properly reflect what I intended to convey.
‘I would never defend or justify the abhorrent holding of hostages by Hamas.
‘Just today, I have signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to put additional pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages, as well as to totally disarm and disband.
‘That’s an absolutely vital condition needed for securing a long-term and sustainable peace – alongside the Israeli Government reopening all aid supply routes to Gaza and ending its devastating military campaign which is creating only more suffering for Palestinians.’
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton yesterday faced growing calls to suspend the MP.
Jamie Halcro Johnston, the Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands region, yesterday wrote to Mr Cole-Hamilton to urge him to suspend Mr MacDonald, who was elected in last year’s general election for the ‘abhorrent social media comments’.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism also branded the remarks as ‘vile moral bankruptcy’ and called for him to be suspended pending a full investigation, while Sammy Stein, of the Glasgow Friends of Israel group, branded the remarks ‘despicable’.
In his letter, Mr Halcro Johnston said: ‘Mr MacDonald’s description of the hostages as “bargaining power”, and his insinuation that, if Hamas terrorists released them, Israel would “obliterate Palestine”, are not only naïve but grossly offensive to the hostages and their families. To any reasonable person, his comments are completely beyond the pale.
‘Several organisations representing Scotland’s Jewish community have rightly expressed their outrage at these disgusting remarks, with the Campaign Against Antisemitism describing them as dehumanising, morally bankrupt, and playing into the hands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They have called on you to suspend Angus MacDonald MP pending a full investigation.
‘While Angus MacDonald should offer an unconditional apology for what he said, I believe that you, as Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, have a duty to condemn his horrific remarks, apologise to Scotland’s Jewish community and to suspend Mr MacDonald while a full investigation is conducted by your party.’
In its initial statement, the Scottish Lib Dems said he ‘wasn’t defending or justifying hostage taking’.
First Minister John Swinney yesterday refused to condemn the comments, saying: ‘I think I will leave Mr MacDonald to speak for himself, he doesn’t speak for my party.’