“The Jewish community in Scotland have an ally in me as First Minister,” says Humza Yousaf

The Scottish First Minister has assured the Jewish community that he is an ally.

Humza Yousaf, who took over from former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon in March, met with members of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council. He also toured Giffnock Newton Mearns synagogue.

In a statement, Mr Yousaf said: “We spoke about a number of issues, first and foremost the importance of tackling antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears. In the fight against antisemitism, the Jewish community in Scotland should be in no doubt that they have an ally in me as First Minister. I reaffirmed my absolute commitment that the Scottish Government will continue to engage with the Jewish community on our collective aim of stamping out antisemitism, prejudice, and hate crime, which have no place in Scotland. We spoke about a number of issues, first and foremost the importance of tackling antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears.”

The meeting comes after recent revelations that Mr Yousaf attended a high-level 2008 meeting with Mohammad Sawalha, also known as Abu Obada, a senior figure in the antisemitic genocidal terrorist organisation, Hamas. Mr Sawalha, who had been described as having “masterminded much of Hamas’ political and military strategy” was meeting with a SNP cabinet minister and government officials at the Scottish Parliament. At the time, Mr Yousaf was 22 and working as a parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad MSP.

Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.