Scotland's First Minister, Humza Yousaf, faced backlash after failing to mention Jews in his Holocaust Remembrance speech on 27 January 2024. In the speech, he urged people to “unite against hate” and said:
“It has never been more important that we remember the victims of the Holocaust and the genocide that followed. Together, we remember the millions of lives that were so cruelly and brutally taken.
The speech left a bitter taste in people's mouths because it did not mention the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Social media caused an uproar after the speech, with many asking whether the First Minister had forgotten the victims of the Holocaust.
Holocaust Remembrance is commemorated every year on January 27, in honor of those who were persecuted and killed by the Nazis during World War II.
While the Nazi Party targeted many minorities, Jews occupied a large percentage of people to be imprisoned in concentration camps and systematically murdered throughout German-occupied Europe.
Hamza Yusuf's speech on Holocaust Remembrance Day was met with backlash for omitting the word Jews
The Holocaust is one of the most horrific examples of genocide in modern history. More than six million Jews died during the Holocaust, representing about two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. Therefore, it was surprising that Hamza Yusuf's speech on Holocaust Remembrance Day did not mention Jews.
The two-minute speech sparked outrage within the Jewish community, with many accusing the First Minister of anti-Semitism. Here are some of their reactions to X:
Historian and BBC presenter Sir Simon Schama described Hamza Yousaf's omission of the word Jews in his speech as “astonishingly insulting” and said the First Minister was “pathetically terrified of using the J-word”.
According to the Express, Youssef's speech was harshly criticized around the world, with Australian political activist Drew Pavlou calling it “complete and complete nonsense for refusing to mention Jews once in your Holocaust memorial statement.”
Youssef was also accused of stripping the Holocaust of its “context and historical background.”
Pavlo added: “Six million Jews were killed simply because they were Jews, but if you listened to Hamza’s statement you wouldn’t even know it.”
Another historian and TV presenter, Simone Montefiore, criticized Youssef's speech as “laughable nonsense” and said it was an example of “how you display your majestic righteousness by remembering Holocaust Day without mentioning the Jewish people.”
The series of controversy surrounding Hamza Yusuf continues
Hamza Yousef is also embroiled in another controversy for refusing to cancel Scottish funding for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA), accused of having ties to Hamas and involvement in the October 7 attacks in Israel.
On 28 January 2024, he tweeted that the Scottish Government had not stopped or withdrawn aid from UNRWA.
Humza Yousaf's decision to continue funding the agency comes as a shock, even as many Scottish MPs and party leaders are urging the First Minister to stop funding. Several major democracies have suspended their funding, including Britain, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States.
Humza Yousaf, 38, was elected First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party in March 2023, after serving as Justice Secretary from 2018 to 2021 and Health Secretary from 2021 to 2023.
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