Hamza Yousaf, a 37-year-old Pakistani Immigrant to the United Kingdom, is now set to becometo become the first Prime Minister of Scotland. Currently, the 37-year old political figure is an eminent member and Health Secretary of the Scottish National Party. At the young age of 22, he worked as a parliamentary assistant for first Muslim Scottish member of the Parliament, Bashir Ahmed. At the same time he along with his cousin Osama Saeed was running the Scottish Islamic Foundation.
However, the Jewish Chronicle of the United Kingdom reported that Yousaf met with a senior commander of the HAMAS (Mohammed Sawalha) who is also known to the world as Abu Odaba on March 2,2023.
The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 2006 reported that Mohammed Sawalha was the mastermind of much of HAMAS’ political and military strategy. Before coming to the United Kingdom, he was the military chief of Hamas in Judea and Samaria.
In 2008, a meeting took place with Scottish National Party cabinet ministers and government officials at the Scottish Parliament. The HAMAS leader attended the meeting at Holyrod, a palace used for state occasions.
The Jewish Chronicle queried Yousaf about the meeting and whether he knew about Sawalha’s background. Yousaf did not respond to any of the questions and said that he had a “strong track record of standing up against every form of hatred, including antisemitism.”
A Former British member of Parliament and independent reviewer of terrorism legislation expressed that “Yousaf must address the circumstances in which he judged it appropriate to have close contact with Hamas supporters. He has to face these questions head-on was he to become the first minister.”
A source from the senior Labour Party said “If these allegations are correct then Yousaf will come under serious pressure to justify the company he has kept and the interests he has represented.”
Yousaf has urged for “Palestine to be recognized as an independent state,” called for an arms embargo against Israel, and said Gaza is a place “where people are starving and dying a slow death.”
As a representative of Islam Expo, an event was funded by a 2 million pound grant from Qatar and held in London in 2006 and 2008.
