Complaint about MLA's 'victory to the Palestinian resistance' post on day of Hamas massacre is rejected by Stormont standards body

The People Before Profit MLA had tweeted out “Victory to the Palestinian Resistance” followed by two closed fist symbols at 9.19am that morning – a tweet that remains up today.

At day at about 6.30am Israeli time (GMT +3) Hamas had launched “Operation Al Aqsa Flood”, pouring into Israel and killing about 1,400 people, largely civilians.

Dr Melissa McCullough, the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards, said he had instead been talking about Palestinians damaging fences, not the massacre.

She had received a complaint from a grassroots member of the TUV over the comment.

She has now said in response: “In accordance with paragraph 3.12 of the General Procedures Direction I write to advise you that I have decided that the above complaint is not admissible.

"I have reached that decision for the following reasons:

“1. I met with Mr Carroll on 10th November 2023 to further understand the tweet he posted on 7th October 2023 at 9.19am.

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"Mr Carroll stated that the tweet was related to the images of civil disobedience that he was seeing at that time, which he said was of Palestinian people breaking down fences in Gaza.

"He stated that he had no knowledge, at that time, of the attacks on innocent civilians that occurred on that day.

"Mr Carroll clarified that he does not support the attacks on Israeli civilians carried out by Hamas. He further clarified that he has been a supporter of the rights of the Palestinian people for many years, which pre-dates him becoming an elected MLA.

"Further, he provided evidence which showed that since 7th October he has received over five thousand emails from the public ‘urging him to support Palestine in the face of Israel’s siege on Gaza’.

"2. Section 2.3 of the MLA Code of Conduct (‘the Code’) makes clear that the Code is to be construed so as to uphold Members’ right to freedom of expression.

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"This, in turn, reflects the special importance of political expression under Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (‘the Convention’).

"The European Court of Human Rights has also recognised that while freedom of expression is important for everyone, it is especially so for an elected representative, who represents an electorate, draws attention to their preoccupations and defends their interests.

"The power to interfere with the freedom of expression of elected members in the political sphere is therefore to be narrowly construed.

"3. Further to Mr Carroll’s interview, I am satisfied that his tweet referring to ‘the Palestinian Resistance’ was reflecting his support of civil disobedience by the Palestinian people in asserting what he considered to be their civil and political rights.

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“4. Given Mr Carroll’s state of knowledge at the time he sent this tweet, I do not consider that he was expressing support for the brutal attacks now known to have been carried out by Hamas on 7th October 2023.

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"I am satisfied that he was engaged in a political expression of support for what he believed to be acts of civil disobedience by Palestinian people.

"I also recognise that political expression may be couched in terms which are polemical and provocative while remaining within the sphere protected by Article 10 of the Convention and recognised by Section 2.3 of the Code.

"5. A complaint about political expression will only fall within the Code where its terms are such that it falls outside the particular protection afforded to such expression by Article 10. I do not consider that Mr Carroll’s tweet could be characterised in this way.

"As such, this complaint falls outside the scope of the Code and is inadmissible.”