Humza Yousaf – The Early Years
Yousaf worked in a “Call Centre” for a short time before becoming a spokesman for the controversial Islamic Relief. Controversial because in 2020 the entire UK board were forced to stand down after an antisemitism scandal.
As a Government minister, in 2013, he signed off a Scottish government donation for the organisation, totalling £398,000.
He was the President of the Glasgow University Muslim Students Association and a member of the Student Representative Council when he attended Glasgow University, where he graduated with a degree in Politics in 2007.
After graduating, he worked from 2007 as a parliamentary assistant to the first Scottish Muslim MSP Bashir Ahmadin, until the MSP’s death two years later.
He was first elected to Holyrood as a list MSP for Glasgow in 2011 and then the MSP for Glasgow Pollock in 2016.
The Increasing Influence of Islam
The Yousaf family acquired influence in the planning and execution of SNP politics soon after Humza joined the Party in 2007. A situation created by the rapid and continuing growth in the West of Scotland in the number of Muslim immigrants from Pakistan and Southeast Asia.
Muslim votes greatly assisted the SNP in its efforts to gain political power and governance in Scotland. All good things come at a price and the Yousaf family, (shades of the Kennedys in the USA) and their supporters called in favours.
They duly did so when Yousaf, as Justice Minister brought forward his flagship policy, “The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill” in 2019, which he promised would add many additional protections to minorities while maintaining existing rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The bill becomes effective at the beginning of 2024 and despite many amendments, there are still concerns among many Scots about its draconian content, aspects of which continue to be subject to criticism by the Scottish public, the Catholic Church, the National Secular Society, the media and writers.
Yousaf’s links to Hamas – Holyrood Meeting With Former Hamas Leader
In 2008, Yousaf, then a parliamentary assistant to MSP Bashir Ahmad and his cousin Osama Saeed, who used to be an aide to former SNP leader and first minister Alex Salmond, arranged a meeting between Linda Fabiani the Scottish Culture and External Affairs Secretary and former *senior Hamas commander Mohammad Sawalha (described by BBC Panorama as the mastermind behind much of Hamas’ political and military strategy)
Sawalha was accompanied by two other Hamas supporting activists, Anas Altikriti and Ismail Patel.
Iraqi-born Altikriti frequently voiced support for Hamas, saying it was “fighting back” against Israeli occupation.
Patel, who founded the Midlands-based Friends of Al-Aqsa said: “The current political map of Palestine… will have to include Hamas and Fatah amongst other political groups. Hamas is a resistance movement against colonial oppression and the backbone of Palestinian resistance.”
Soon after the meeting Yousaf and Saeed established an Islamic lobbying group, The Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF). Its first chief executive was Saeed who had previously expressed support for Islamists including Anwar al-Awlaki, the extremist preacher who inspired numerous Muslim terrorists, but who, he said, “preached nothing but peace.”
The SIF was awarded £405,000 in grants from the SNP government and announced the country’s biggest ever celebration of Islamic culture in Glasgow for June 2009.
But the project collapsed and SIF was forced to repay £128,000 of the taxpayer funds it had received, with £72,000 already spent.
Yousaf was also a director of SIF Ltd between May 2008 and September 2009.
Afternote: SIF was wound up after spending several hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money with almost nothing to show for it and with large sums unaccounted for. Humza Yousaf’s aunt and mother were employed by the charity which was placed on a watch list after being described as an entry-level group for Islamists.
*Sawalha was Hamas’ West Bank military chief before being appointed to its political leadership. He reportedly fled the Gaza Strip in 1990 after being placed on a wanted list by Israel.
Hamas had at the time been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the US, but the UK did not follow suit until 2021.
Sawalha attended the meeting at Holyrood as a representative of Islam Expo, which was funded by a £2 million grant from Qatar and held in London in 2006 and 2008.
The Expos, run by Sawalha, included an appearance by Sheikh Qazi Hussain Ahmed, a Pakistani politician who praised the Taliban as “just and honourable men.”
Lord Carlisle, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: “Yousaf must address the circumstances in which he judged it appropriate to have close contact with Hamas supporters.
Financial Aid to the Hamas Ruled Gaza Strip
The international community sent billions of dollars in aid to the Gaza Strip in recent years to provide relief to the more than 2 million Palestinians living in the isolated, Hamas-ruled territory.
The aid was intended to ease the burden on civilians of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on Gaza when the Islamic militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Israel says heavy restrictions on trade and movement are needed to keep Hamas from enhancing its military capability, while critics view it as a form of collective punishment. Israel and Hamas have fought five wars since 2008, the most recent in 2023.
Israel closely supervises aid to try to ensure it bypasses Hamas. But the Hamas-run government benefits from foreign countries footing the bill for schools, hospitals and infrastructure, allowing it to conserve its resources, including the taxes and customs it collects.
Scottish Financial Aid to the UN’s Gaza Appeal:
Yousaf pledged to donate $1 million as Scotland’s humanitarian funding to the UN’s Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) appeal.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice (2018–2021)
Rewarding mediocrity, Sturgeon promoted the unqualified Yousaf to the post of Cabinet Secretary for Justice. The first ever person appointed to the role without holding a university degree in Law.
Yousaf, a champion of anti-free speech laws criminalising “stirring up” so-called “hatred” even in a person’s private home, ventured: “Are we comfortable giving a defence to somebody whose behaviour is threatening or abusive, which is intentionally stirring up hatred against, for example, Muslims? Are we saying that that is justified because that is in the home?”
He also ranted in the Scottish Parliament against the 91.8% of white people in high office in Scotland and asserted that “Scotland has a problem of structural racism.” Full details here:
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/07/05/racist-backlash-scotland-white/
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/27/anti-free-speech-separatist-who-wants-fewer-white-people-in-office-now-leads-scotland/
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/10/29/scottish-justice-sec-demands-hate-speech-home-be-prosecuted/
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