ABERDEEN: Scotland’s leader Humza Yousaf said his wife’s parents were fast running out of food and drinking water in Gaza and could die if unable to leave soon.
Yousaf’s parents-in-law live in Scotland but were visiting relatives in Gaza when Hamas raided Israel last weekend.
Yousaf, 38, said Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla had limited themselves to an egg a day and sips of clean water as they rationed food so there was enough for their grandchildren.
“Their supplies are going to run out very soon. They are down to their last rations … They are obviously thinking about the kids,” he said in an interview, citing information gleaned from short calls over patchy phone lines.
“If the border is not reopened, and there is no way out, people will die … My parents (in law) — I don’t think I will see them again.”
Yousaf, the first Muslim leader of a Western European country in modern times, said Israel had a right to defend itself. He visited a synagogue in Scotland last week to comfort the family of a Jewish man who died in Israel, telling them: “Your grief is my grief”.
‘Collective punishment’
But he said Israel was imposing an illegal form of collective punishment, and rebuked the British government for giving such robust support to Israel immediately after the raid, without questioning its response.
“There is no doubt that collective punishment is a breach of international law,” he said. “I don’t know why people are dancing around on that issue. There are rules of engagement.” Scotland has a semi-autonomous government, which is in charge of issues such as health and education. Foreign policy is controlled by the British government in London.
“If we do not act as an international community, it will be a
significant stain on our conscience for many years to come,” said Yousaf, whose wife was born in Dundee to a Palestinian father and Scottish mother.
He added that his brother-in-law, who works as a doctor, is having to make decisions about who should be treated, while the hospitals in Gaza run out of body bags.
“They are now having to make that dreadful, horrendous decision about who to treat and who to let die,” he said.
Yousaf points to his own background — born in Glasgow, with a father from Pakistan and mother from Kenya — and views as examples of the inclusive, socially liberal and multi-ethnic Scotland that his Scottish National Party seeks to promote.
Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2023
Source: dawn.com
