SWC Calls Out Potential Scottish PM Who Met With Senior Hamas Leader

March 13, 2023

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is calling out Humza Yousaf, a senior Scottish politician, who met with a notorious Hamas commander in 2008. 

Yousaf, who is in the running to become prime minister, arranged the high-level Holyrood meeting with Hamas leader Mohammad Sawalha, whose nom de guerre is Abu Obada. Sawalha was named by a BBC Panorama episode as having been a key strategist behind Hamas's political and military actions.

“You are a politician who wants to lead Scotland? You meet with a senior Hamas official. Hamas wants to genocide the people of Israel. Murdering Jews is the ultimate act of anti-Semitism. It is beyond belief that in 2023, a senior western politician wouldn’t know that. Why would you meet with a terrorist?,” stated SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda, Rabbi Abraham Cooper.

For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Shawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).