John Swinney heckled exterior Scottish parliament at memorial for victims of October 7 Hamas assault on Israel

A furious crowd booed John Swinney as he addressed a vigil for the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The First Minister’s words were drowned out at Holyrood yesterday by heckling from members of Scotland’s Jewish community as he tried to defend his stance on recognising the Palestinian state.

He insisted he believed it was a ‘necessary route to securing peace in the Middle East’. But his address was met with loud chants of ‘Bring them home’ in reference to the hostages still held by the Palestinian terror group.

Mr Swinney said his job as FM was to ‘bring our communities together and to ensure that everyone in our society can live in peace and solidarity and safety’.

He added that he stood ‘with you in remembrance of those who have lost their lives, I stand in solidarity demanding the release of the hostages and I stand with you demanding peace for all and that we may live in harmony together’.

The FM was booed again as he left the stage outside the Scottish parliament.

Timothy Lovat, chairman of the Jewish Council of Scotland, said he had warned Mr Swinney he would be in for a rough ride at the vigil.

He said: ‘He is the First Minister of Scotland and he is expected to attend a vigil like this, I just wish he’d toned down his rhetoric on Palestine previously.’

Drowned out: John Swinney at the vigil at Holyrood, where he was booed

The vigil was held in solidarity with victims’ families and survivors two years on from the Hamas terror attacks in Israel

However, Mr Lovat added politicians up and down the country were fuelling anti-Semitic sentiment with their pro-Palestine and anti-Israel stance.

He said of Mr Swinney: ‘His view is that Israel is engaged in the commission of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and he is flying the Palestinian flag at St Andrew’s House. International affairs are not devolved to Holyrood so why is he even meddling?

‘I pointed out to him that the language used – not just by him but by other politicians – is fuelling hatred.

‘We have been concerned that there would be violence and unfortunately, as we saw in Manchester last week, there was with two people losing their lives.

‘With their words, politicians are not only creating paranoia, genuinely what we are seeing is that they are enabling anti-Semitism to take hold.’

Mr Lovat singled out Eastwood Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw as the ‘sole voice of reason’ at Holyrood and a champion of the Jewish community, adding: ‘He has been a strong supporter of our community and often he is the only voice at Holyrood supporting the Jewish people.’

Mr Carlaw said: ‘I was proud to attend this vigil, I stand with the Jewish community and I stand with the people of Israel. Anti-Semitism is on the rise across the United Kingdom.’

Following the terror attack on the Manchester synagogue on Thursday, Scotland’s Jewish leaders pleaded with Mr Swinney and his fellow politicians to ‘stop fanning the flames of hatred’. Mr Swinney has been clear in his support of the Palestinian state but on Thursday he was quick to urge Scotland to ‘stand firm’ against anti-Semitism.

‘Hypocrisy’: FM at event last month to mark UK recognising State of Palestine

East Renfrewshire Tory councillor Paul Edlin, a board member of the Jewish Council of Scotland, said: ‘Many will feel that John Swinney is now being hypocritical by attempting to claim solidarity with the Jewish community.’

A clip posted on X yesterday showed Mr Swinney’s speech being interrupted. It attracted hundreds of comments including one from Baroness Foster, a Conservative peer, who said: ‘How dare you @JohnSwinney. You insensitive b******!’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The First Minister addressed and attended the vigil outside parliament to stand in solidarity with Jewish communities in condemning all forms of violence towards Jewish people, and in memory of all those who lost their lives in the October 7 attacks and since.

‘He has been clear that there is no place for anti-Semitism in our society.’