AN SNP conduct committee member who was forced to stand down over antisemitic social media posts has apologised for offence caused.

Denise Findlay resigned from the party on Wednesday after Channel 4 News revealed social media posts in which she equated Israel with the Nazis.

The activist’s role on the conduct committee meant she would likely need to investigate Neale Hanvey, the SNP’s candidate in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath who has been suspended over his own alleged antisemitic posts.

Findlay had also donated to Hanvey’s crowdfunder, and encouraged supporters to campaign for him after his suspension.

An SNP spokesperson said Findlay’s views were “entirely at odds with the ethos of the party”.

Her tweets date from 2018, when the UK Labour party was being criticised for not signing up to the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

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That definition explicitly says comparing the actions of Israel to the Nazis is antisemitic.

On July 19 2018, Findlay wrote on Twitter: “Israel with its treatment of Palestinians and latest apartheid laws is Nazi. It is not antisemitic to call Israel a Nazi state.”

On July 23, she wrote: “Israel’s action against Palestine are definitely Nazi – This is all about surprising perfectly justified criticism of Israel.”

On August 1, she wrote: “Saying Israel is a Nazi State is not antisemitic it’s true.”

A day later, she tweeted: “Israel’s behaviour towards Palestinians Is Nazi. It’s the truth call it what it is Nazi.”

Speaking to the National, she said: “I used ‘Nazi’ in the context of the discussion which was about Labour accepting the definition of antisemitism and that was the most extreme word to illustrate the point.

“I do realise using ‘Nazi’ was crass and hurtful and I regret that.”

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Findlay, who is currently in the US, said she had been inundated with support from SNP members since her resignation.

The reason she had backed Hanvey is, she said, because he, like her, was a supporter of the Women’s Pledge.

The National:
Neale Hanvey

That group, who had their first meeting at the SNP conference, believe proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act to make it easier for trans-people to self-identify their gender, impacts on sex-based protections.

They have asked candidates to sign a five-point pledge to affirm “women’s single-sex protections in the Equality Act 2019 which we believe must be upheld”.

Fiona Robertson the SNP’s Equalities Convener has described a pledge by the group as “an explicitly anti-trans piece of writing”.

The row has become increasingly bitter with members and some of party’s parliamentarians split on the issue.

When Hanvey was suspended last week for sharing an article which used a picture of the Jewish financier George Soros as a puppet master holding and controlling world leaders – a known antisemitic trope – some supporters believed he was being targeted for his views on transgender rights.

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Sturgeon rejected speculation Hanvey had been axed because of his views on transgender rights.

Yesterday she said there was not a wider problem of antisemitism within the SNP.

Sturgeon said: “We’ve signed up to the IHRA definition of antisemitism and – as we did with the candidate in Kirkcaldy last week – if there are concerns raised about people’s comments or views we also consult with the Jewish representatives here in Scotland to take their advice and their views on whether or not something was antisemitic.

“I think that’s the appropriate response, when things come to light in terms of people’s past comments then we take action where that is appropriate and will continue to do so.”