The sister of a Scot murdered by Hamas terrorists has said Scotland’s Jews no longer ‘feel safe’ following the SNP government’s decision to hoist the Palestinian flag in Edinburgh.

Laura Schosloff, whose brother Bernard Cowan was killed in the October 7 atrocity in 2023, said John Swinney was ‘adding more fuel towards the hatred already there’ by flying the flag at his government’s St Andrew’s House HQ.

She singled out the First Minister’s claims that Israel was committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza as a reason why she and others no longer feel safe to say they are proud to be Jewish in Scotland.

Ms Schosloff’s strong words came as a letter signed by thousands of people accused Mr Swinney of risking the safety of Scotland’s 5,847-strong Jewish community by pandering to an ‘extremist and increasingly aggressive fringe of the activist class’.

Ms Schosloff said: ‘We don’t feel safe in Scotland to say that we’re proud to be Jewish.

‘I don’t feel as comfortable here as I did, say, about six or eight months ago.

‘I’m totally disgusted with the Scottish Government for flying the Palestinian flag and it looks like just a way of them trying to get more votes.

‘They’re adding more fuel towards the hatred that’s already there and perhaps are trying to appease some of their big funders.’

Murdered Hamas victim Bernard Cowan

Chairman of Scottish Jewish Council Timothy Lovat with First Minister

The Palestinian flag being raised at St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh

She added: ‘Obviously we want there to be peace and for everyone to be safe, including families that live in the kibbutz, but this is not the way to do it.

‘We also need every one of the hostages to be returned.

‘I believe not one Palestinian life will be saved by these measures. Why not put the Scottish flag up? They should be proud of being Scottish.’

Just days after Mr Cowan, who had moved from Glasgow to live in a kibbutz, was killed, the former First Minister Humza Yousaf had comforted his mother Irene.

He told her ‘your grief is my grief,’ during a poignant service in a Glasgow synagogue.

The 57-year-old was murdered in his home near the border with Gaza during the Hamas atrocities that claimed more than 1,200 lives and saw more than 250 hostages taken.

Last week, Mr Swinney told Holyrood he could not ignore warnings that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was behind a ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

As well as flying the Palestinian flag over St Andrew’s House, measures unveiled by Mr Swinney included blocking any funding to facilitate trade links with Israel.

Ms Schosloff spoke out as an open letter from Scotland Against Antisemitism, signed by nearly 3,000 people, called on the SNP government to ‘retract its inflammatory language’.

Addressed to the First Minister, the letter said: ‘The Scottish Government holds no power over foreign policy and no meaningful influence over the State of Israel.

‘The decision to pull a tiny amount of funding from a handful of commercial projects will not impact the Israeli government or change the course of the war.

Swinney making his speech in Holyrood

‘In short, the only people this announcement will materially affect are Scottish Jews who are already under siege.’

It continued: ‘We believe, with sorrow and outrage, that this decision was made to appease a small, extremist and increasingly aggressive fringe of the activist class, a group whose support is being courted for political reasons. It appears the government has calculated that the cost of alienating Scotland’s Jews will be outweighed by electoral rewards.’

The letter said some are ‘leaving Scotland for Israel out of fear’, and warned that the ‘small and increasingly vulnerable community is living in an extraordinarily hostile environment’.

A government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government deeply values our relationship with Scotland’s Jewish community and it is vital they feel safe and supported.

‘The International Court of Justice has found a prima facie case that the Israeli government was committing genocide and the First Minister, along with many international leaders, shares the concerns that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza constitute a genocide.’