Scottish Prime Minister Hamza Yousaf described the accusations against him as ridiculous (Getty)
Scottish Prime Minister Hamza Yousef described what was stated in British press reports about a conflict of interest regarding his government donating a sum of money to the Gaza Strip as a ridiculous smear campaign, and stressed that this campaign falls within the framework of hostility to Islam.
Youssef said in a blog post on his account on the “X” platform that this campaign will not prevent him from raising his voice to demand an end to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, nor will it prevent him from continuing to call for the release of the hostages, stressing the need for the continued flow of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza who are suffering under unimaginable terror.
The British newspaper The Telegraph published a report indicating that there was a conflict of interest in the Prime Minister’s decision to donate to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) while his wife’s parents were trapped in the Gaza Strip under Israeli bombing.
The Scottish government donated 250,000 British pounds (equivalent to 320,000 US dollars) to UNRWA during a meeting between the Prime Minister and officials from the organization on November 2 last year, which the Telegraph report considered a conflict of interest.
The Scottish Government said the funds were allocated to UNRWA in response to an urgent appeal for emergency aid, as more than a million Palestinians in Gaza face displacement in wartime conditions.
Right-wing Stephen Kerr, a member of the Scottish Parliament for the Conservative Party, demanded that the Prime Minister provide an explanation for what happened, and said that the Prime Minister “may have violated Scottish law.”
In response to these allegations, Youssef said in a blog post on the X platform, “Naturally, UNRWA had nothing to do with my wife’s family’s ability to leave Gaza.”
He continued, "They were able to leave Gaza thanks to the hard work of the Foreign Office Crisis Team, like any other British citizen. The Crisis Team can confirm this. To say otherwise is a lie and a clear distortion."
The Scottish Prime Minister said: “To be clear, the Scottish Government has given money to Gaza, as have almost all Western governments, because of the indisputable humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there.”
He accused the Telegraph of publishing conspiracy theories promoted by the far right, and said, "Publishing far-right conspiracies in a newspaper is a matter of anger and would encourage further abuse of me and my family."
Hamza Yousef (37 years old), a Scottish Muslim of Pakistani origin, took over the leadership of the Scottish National Party, succeeding Nicola Sturgeon, who resigned as head of the party and the government in March 2023. He is the first Muslim Prime Minister of Scotland.
Youssef's family suffered at the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, as his Palestinian wife's parents were visiting the Strip when the war broke out there, and they were stuck in the besieged northern Strip for weeks.
Source: Al Jazeera + German + social networking sites