Is the pro-Israel lobby lining up Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon for ‘the Corbyn treatment’?

A pro-Israel charm offensive has seen some Scottish government ministers distancing themselves from the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, raising concerns that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is being lined up for “the Corbyn treatment” by the lobby working for benefit of the colonial-occupation state. Sturgeon has come under ferocious attack by Zionists for daring to criticise Israel. They have even described her words as tantamount to the “desecration of a synagogue”.

The astonishing volley of anti-Semitism allegations against Sturgeon is being viewed in some quarters as part of a concerted effort to destabilise the leadership of the Scottish National Party and the independence movement. The movement is currently enjoying a huge surge of public support in Scotland.

Scottish independence is not in the interests of Israel and its supporters, who believe that the break-up of the United Kingdom would lead to the removal of the nuclear weapons from the naval base in Faslane. This, it is feared, could jeopardise Britain’s status as a nuclear power and its automatic seat on the UN Security Council. The SNP is already considering proposals to have the nuclear weapons removed from Scottish soil within three years of the country becoming independent.

Israel relies on the unconditional support of its allies on the Security Council, of which the United Kingdom, France and the US are its greatest friends. Known collectively as the P5, the other permanent members are China and Russia. Any one of them can veto a resolution, which often proves invaluable to the rogue Zionist state which has violated or ignored nearly 200 UN Resolutions since it was created in occupied Palestine in 1948.

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Now that Sturgeon has kick-started the flagging independence campaign with a view to making preparations next year for a vote on independence in 2023, some political observers are asking if her continuation as first minister of Scotland could be viewed as a threat to Israel’s unconditional support at the Security Council.

Shortly after discussing plans for a new referendum on independence, an attack was launched by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS). UJS president Nina Freedman told The Times: “Jewish students in Scotland are a vital part of the Scottish Jewish community, and these actions by the Scottish National Party have a large impact on their Jewish life and wider university experience. We have seen across the UK that when BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] is implemented, campus becomes incredibly hostile for Jewish students.” The student group is an opponent of the Scottish government’s criticism of trade between Scotland and illegal settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, SCoJeC, pointed out that similar measures are not taken against for other states that have territorial disputes, such as Tibet, Kashmir or Cyprus. “When the Jewish state is singled out then that is as much anti-Semitism as the desecration of a synagogue,” it insisted.

The special relationship between the Scottish Government and Israel was fractured in May when Sturgeon urged Tel Aviv to halt the violence after armed Israeli police stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. “Attacking a place of worship at any time is reprehensible, but attacking a mosque during Ramadan is utterly indefensible,” she said. “It is also a violation of international law. Israel should heed calls to halt the violence immediately.”

Despite meeting representatives of the Jewish community in August in an effort to calm some of their more outraged leaders, it is clear that Sturgeon’s appeasement strategy has failed. Co-founder of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Mick Napier, has even asked if she is being “lined up for the Corbyn treatment”.

This was a reference to the ousting of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his replacement by self-proclaimed Zionist Sir Keir Starmer. Following Corbyn’s removal, at least one leading pro-Israel lobbyist claimed credit for his defeat. “The beast is slain,” declared Joe Glasman. Rejoicing that the pro-Israel lobby had defeated Corbyn, he ranted: “They tried to kill us [but] we won.” Glasman is the head of the political investigations team at the influential anti-Palestinian group, the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism. He made his claims in a video posted online.

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It is well known that Scottish politician Angus Robertson, who was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture in May this year, is being groomed to take over from Sturgeon, although she has dismissed rumours that she is stepping down any time soon. Robertson has been viewed as a close ally of Israel since an undercover TV investigation exposed the power and influence of the pro-Israel lobby in British politics. Zionists clearly regard him as a safe pair of hands.

According to Napier, “Whereas Sco-Jec has courted the Scottish Government assiduously in recent years, they now claim that discouraging trade and investment in Israel’s illegal settlements expresses hostility to Scottish Jews. Not only hostility but Jew-hatred on a par with the desecration of Jewish houses of worship. Given SCoJeC’s very clear record of inventing incidents of anti-Semitism, it is no real surprise that the Scottish government, political parties and mainstream media have all refused to respond to this latest SCoJeC provocation.”

Indeed, most of the media in Scotland have so far ignored the Zionist attack on Sturgeon, which will come as a relief to her aides and supporters. The memory is still fresh of the hounding of Jeremy Corbyn and the subsequent “witch hunt” and near civil war which has left the Labour Party in tatters.

Scotland was once described by the Embassy of Israel in London as “enemy territory”. If the apartheid state now has designs on undermining the independence movement with allegations of another “anti-Semitism problem” in a British political party, it will find that the people of Scotland are no pushover.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.