EDINBURGH (Dispatches) – The former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who died unexpectedly during a conference in North Macedonia at the weekend, was one of the most vocally pro-Palestinian western leaders of his generation and a vociferous opponent of the Iraq war.
Salmond, who died at 69, on 12 October, was one of the UK’s most significant and influential politicians in the last 20 years. He led the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1990 to 2000, and from 2004 to 2014, winning the party an outright majority in Scotland’s devolved parliament for the first time in 2011.
Labeled “Mad Alex” by Donald Trump, he came close to breaking the United Kingdom up in 2014 by securing a referendum on Scottish independence, although Scotland ultimately voted against leaving the UK.
He collapsed in his chair during lunch at the conference, suffering what is thought to have been a heart attack.
Tributes poured in from all quarters, including from King Charles, who said he was “greatly saddened” by the news.
Known for being a man of many hats, Salmond played a ghost in a Pakistani soap opera in 2001, having been trained for the role by James Bond star Sean Connery.
The former SNP leader was a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause. In 2004, he opposed Britain’s abstention on a UN resolution condemning the Zionist regime’s assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. 
Then in 2010, as SNP leader, Salmond slammed Israel’s assassination of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.
As first minister, he called for an embargo on arms sales to the Zionist regime in August 2014, amid the regime’s bombardment of Gaza. 
His pro-Palestinian stance continued after his departure from the SNP in 2018, and when he became leader of a new pro-independence party called the Alba Party from 2021 onwards.
Earlier this month Salmond slammed Britain’s Labour government on social media platform X, asking: “Is the UK to ‘stand with Israel’ in Gaza, in Lebanon, in flagrant breaches of international law, in tens of thousands of civilian deaths over the last year?”
Salmond added: “Britain is the former colonial power and West Asia is one of the few areas where what is said by the PM actually matters. 
“Would a better policy not be to simply say ‘we stand to uphold international law and unequivocally back the UN’s pursuit of peace’?”
In August he strongly criticized the current SNP first minister, John Swinney, after it emerged a minister had met Israeli deputy ambassador Daniela Grudsky. 
“This is not a time for business as usual with a regime whose leadership is under ICC investigation for war crimes,” he said, accusing the minister of “cosying up to Israeli officials” and suggesting he should be sacked.