Netanyahu fans on Twitter claim with a straight face that they might have voted Alba if it hadn't been for me. If I've single-handedly cost Alba the pro-genocide vote, my humblest apologies.

There are numerous ironies to my potential forthcoming expulsion from the Alba Party, which if it happens will ultimately be due to a blogpost I wrote in April arguing for democratisation of the party's internal structures - something which the leadership were seemingly more hellbent on thwarting than I could ever have dreamed possible.  Many of those ironies relate to Alba's scathing reaction to disciplinary action that the SNP has taken against its own members - for example, Fergus Ewing's one-week suspension from the SNP parliamentary group.  However unjustifiable the action against Mr Ewing was, and I do believe it was wholly wrong, a one-week suspension plainly pales into insignificance compared to the draconian action taken against numerous Alba members recently, including expulsions and lengthy suspensions. I myself have already been suspended from the party for longer than one week without even having faced a disciplinary hearing yet, and that's been purely at the arbitrary whim of one man - Chris McEleny.

However, as far as the ironies were concerned, nothing could have prepared me for what happened last night.  I got into an exchange with Nicole Lampert, a London-based "journalist" specialising in pro-Israel propaganda and genocide apologism.  She was going off on one about the fact that a pro-Palestinian counter-demonstration was audible during what she described as a "vigil" in Glasgow to "mourn the dead" of October 7th last year.  "Give us 24 hours to mourn our dead in peace!" she histrionically demanded.  My question to her was whether pro-Israel counter-protests should be banned for the next year to allow Palestinians to mourn their dead in peace, because of course almost every day for the next year will be the first anniversary of atrocities committed by Israel.

She then claimed that the pro-Palestinian protesters in Glasgow had been shouting anti-Semitic language, which left her on fairly weak ground, because she had already posted what she clearly regarded as a "damning video", and yet all that could be heard in that video were the familiar slogans "from the river to the sea" (which cannot be anti-Semitic because Netanyahu has used it at press conferences) and "free free Palestine" (which is perfectly consistent with support for Palestinian freedom in the context of a two-state solution).  Oh no, that wasn't what she was talking about, she clarified. She was instead talking about anti-Semitic language that couldn't be heard in the video.  She alleged that "Scottish Jews" had been called "genocidal scum and baby-killers".  Did I think that was acceptable, she demanded to know.

I pointed out that she had supplied zero evidence of that language having been used, and also that even if she could find any evidence of it, she would have to establish that it was actually being directed at "Scottish Jews" rather than at the genocidal Israeli government - because of course if it was the latter, the language used would not only be acceptable but entirely accurate. That was the final straw for her - unable to grasp any distinction between Scottish Jews and Benjamin Netanyahu, she hilariously 'reported' me to Chris McEleny and Neale Hanvey, having noticed on my Twitter profile that I'm an elected member of three Alba committees.  "You and I have our differences on Israel/Palestine but this guy claims to be one of your lot and SURELY THIS CAN'T BE ALBA POLICY!!!!" she screamed.

Desperately trying to keep a straight face, I explained the irony of her reporting me to someone who already has me suspended from the party, albeit for radically different reasons from the ones she might approve of.  But over the next few hours, Ms Lampert was followed by at least four pro-Netanyahu accounts all claiming earnestly to have seriously considered voting Alba but declaring that THEY WOULD NEVER DO IT NOW BECAUSE OF THE VIEWS OF THAT BASTARD JAMES KELLY, THE ALBA COMMITTEE MEMBER.  By that stage, I didn't even bother pointing out the comical irony of them saying that about someone who is suspended from the Alba Party, because there comes a point where all you can do is step back and quietly marvel at the sheer absurdity of a situation.

I must say I had no idea there was such a potential groundswell for Alba among pro-genocide voters (didn't they think to check party policy?), and if I've single-handedly managed to screw that up in what may be my last few days as a party member, what can I say.  I'm so, so sorry, guys.

So were the pro-Palestinian protesters right to audibly disrupt the Glasgow "vigil"? I probably wouldn't have advised it, but there again you have to take into account what the true nature of the event was.  Jackson Carlaw posted a photo of himself making a speech at the "vigil", in which he apparently argued strongly against any end to Israel's genocidal actions until the hostages are released.  The fact that a right-wing politician was even invited to make such a speech suggests that there may have been an agenda that went a lot further than simply "mourning the dead".