Labour inquiry after McIrvine Facebook post

ANGER: Scottish Jewish group condemns councillor’s alleged anti-Semitic comment

A leading Scottish Jewish group has condemned an alleged anti-Semitic post shared by a Dundee councillor online.

Coldside councillor George McIrvine is under investigation by the Labour Party after he shared a post on Facebook that made reference to Rothschild’s Bank in the wake of the UK’s decision to take part in a bombing raid on Syria last month.

Mr McIrvine removed the post and has vehemently denied any anti-Semitic intent. He claimed he intended the post to be viewed as a comment on banks in general rather than those owned by the Jewish Rothschild family.

Mr McIrvine also said he was opposed to all forms of racism.

The post he shared said: “There are only nine countries left in the world without a central Rothschild bank: Russia, China, Iceland, Cuba, Syria, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and Hungary.

“Isn’t it funny we are always at war with these countries.”

The Rothschilds banking dynasty has been the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracies since the battle of Waterloo in 1815 and has been accused of profiteering from war and even controlling global warming.

Rothschild and Co is a multinational private investment and banking company. Central banks are run by national institutions that, while independent of government, are responsible for implementing government monetary policy.

A spokesman for the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities said ignorance of the alleged anti-Semitic nature of the post demonstrates how pervasive some anti-Semitic discourse has become.

He said: “George McIrvine’s comment about ‘central Rothschild banks’ is undoubtedly rooted in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and stereotypes but he may well not be aware of that, in which case it just illustrates how widespread such offensive and ill-founded nonsense is, and how important it is to counter such ignorance with education.”

Howard Barclay, who reported Mr McIrvine to Labour Party bosses, said: “The sharing of alleged anti-Semitic imagery implying a global Jewish conspiracy by an elected councillor has no place in Scottish political discourse.

“I trust swift and decisive action will be undertaken.”

The Labour Party has been accused for failing to tackle anti-Semitism among some of its members seriously.

However, some party members have been suspended for sharing anti-Semitic material.

Coldside councillor George McIrvine has been condemned by a Scottish Jewish group for an alleged anti-Semitic post.