Silent spread of radical Islam in Scotland

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Radical Islamic terrorism is a highly unpredictable thus alarmingly growing phenomenon in today’s world. Jihadist or radical Islamic terrorist attacks can take in various forms – from small scale attacks mostly perpetrated by love wolves to large scale and well-coordinated attacks. This amorphous and global security threat can strike anywhere – at any time. But, if we look into the past record of Scotland’s Justice Minister Humza Yousaf – who proclaims himself as Pakistani-Scottish and has been showing his bias towards radical Islam and even jihad – we may say – Scotland’s national security is definitely at stake.

Scottish Muslim woman joined ISIS

All of us know, Scotland is a target of radical Islam. Publicly-known high-profile attacks include the bombings on Glasgow airport in 2007 and the more recent cases of Aqsa Mahmood, a Scottish Muslim woman who joined Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, and ‘Betty the Bomber’, a Glaswegian jihadist who came under the radar of police and security forces. What we don’t know is – the size of radical Muslims, particularly from Asian nations are gradually increasing in Scotland, while religious hatred are being regularly spread through the mosques and Muslim community centers.

Muslims “part and parcel” of wider community in Scotland

Some experts argue saying, Scottish environment serves as a prophylactic against jihadist propaganda. They say, Muslims in Scotland have long been deemed to be more integrated than their English counterparts. According to Scottish Government survey dated 2011, Scots consider Muslims to be “part and parcel” of the wider community.

They say, particularly socio-economic background of the Scottish Muslim community plays an “important role” – many of the Pakistanis, who make up almost 60 percent of the total Scottish Muslim population, originate from the relatively well-off Punjab. Moreover, the Scottish Muslim population is fairly small – it numbers around 77,000 (about 1.4 percent of the total Scottish population), making is easier for local authorities to address social grievances and for police and the security service to monitor risky individuals.

Some experts also say, historically, extremist Islamist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Muhajiroun and leading preachers, such as Omar Bakri Muhammad, who radicalized a whole generation of English Muslims in the 1990s and 2000s, failed to find widespread support in Scotland.

Then they say – “however, Scottish political astuteness could well help to starve violent Islamist recruiters of the oxygen that they necessitate to turn young Muslims against their own countries”.

The case of radical Muslim politician Humza Yousaf

The case of radical Muslim politician Humza Yousaf

In my opinion, the assessment of experts about no possibility of rise of radical Islam in Scotland or Scottish Muslim not getting radicalized with jihadist indoctrination is – totally wrong.

Let us have a glimpse on the case of Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s Justice Minister. How much really the Scottish people know about Humza, who, according to media may one day become the Prime Minister.

Humza Yousaf studied politics in his hometown of Glasgow, and according to the Guardian he became involved in politics just after 9/11. He was firmly opposed to the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and was prolific in the – ‘Stop The War’ movement, helping to organize coaches from Glasgow Central Mosque to the two million strong rally against the war in Iraq.

But Yousaf was willing to go further than his contemporaries to get what he wanted. The Guardian reports he joined a human blockade of the Charing Cross exit of the M8 motorway. In 2012 he described his experiences: “We had our two hours, freezing our arses off. And that was it: I was hooked.”

Initially he was attracted to the Scottish National Party’s opposition to the War on Terror, but he also became interested in its socialist views. Like many in the party he sees leaving the United Kingdom as a good way to push a much more left-wing agenda in Scotland.

Yousaf Humza’s Islamist connections

The case of radical Muslim politician Humza Yousaf

English voters are far more conservative than the Scottish and are perceived to be holding them back from creating a Scandinavian-style socialist state. Humza once said that: “You have to keep being radical with your ideas”. His age, looks and charisma have undoubtedly made it easier to entice the Scottish into his “radical” agenda.

Prior to his election to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, Yousaf had been a media spokesman for Islamic Relief, a charity that has been accused on a number of occasions of being a front group for radical Islamism. Yousaf was a volunteer for Islamic Relief since the age of 10.

Yousaf was also heavily involved in a community radio station for over a decade and helped organize food parcels for asylum seekers.

Humza’s rise to the top has not been without its hiccups. In 2005, whilst working for Scotland’s first Muslim MSP, he was rejected as a candidate. The selection process was reported on by the Scottish Herald because of allegations of vote rigging and the signing up of fake voters. In the end the allegations were thrown out, but the debacle delayed Yousaf’s entry into parliament by one full term.

Humza Yousaf was also embroiled in a financial scandal after his cousin Osama Saeed – a former Muslim Brotherhood spokesman – was awarded £400,000 for a Muslim festival entitled “IslamExpo”. In the end no festival took place and the staff working on the project were reported to have mainly been members of his own family. In the end Saeed repaid £128,000 of the money that was awarded to him. As a director of the foundation the debacle undoubtedly caused Yousef public embarrassment but he did stick by his cousin.

Lunchgate scandal centering Humza Yousaf

Lunchgate scandal centering Humza Yousaf

Furthermore, the Scottish Herald reported on what became known as a “lunchgate” scandal, where Saeed and Yousaf collaborated to fundraise on the back of cash for access. It said at the time:

“…an amateur recording of the night obtained by the Sunday Herald reveals a tawdry hustling for cash as Salmond and Sturgeon laughed and clapped just a few feet away. At one point, Salmond was seen handling a cheque for £500.

“The tape will add to the criticism that the pair offered access to parliament and ministerial time in return for a large donation to SNP funds.

“The auctioneer was Humza Yousaf, who works for both Salmond and Sturgeon at Holyrood.

“Yousaf’s patter was wasn’t subtle. The link between cash, parliament and the ministers’ time was explicit”.

It is unclear what Saeed’s group, the Scottish Islamic Foundation, is doing now but in the past it has been accused of having extremist links. When they met with the British government they took Mohammed Sawalha – the subject of a BBC Panorama expose into Islamist terrorist group Hamas – with them.

The BBC alleged: “From London, Sawalha is said to have master minded much of Hamas’ political and military strategy. Wanted by Israel, he fled to London in 1990… In London, Sawalha is alleged to have directed funds, both for Hamas’ armed wing, and for spreading its missionary dawah.

“Then, in January 1993, an operation Sawalha was involved in went badly wrong. Hamas would be forced to reorganize its funding arrangements. A senior Hamas man from America flew into London for instructions from Sawalha. Sawalha’s visitor was en route to the Palestinian territories.

“The two men travelled to Sawalha’s home. His visitor’s name was Mohammed Salah. Salah’s mission was to distribute funds. Sawalha told him who to meet in the Palestinian territories…. With Sawalha’s agreement Salah began distributing about a quarter of a million dollars to local Hamas operatives. “

“Some was ear marked for military activities. Some for missionary dawah. More money was in the pipe line from his bank in Chicago. But the Israeli’s had been tracking him. Stopped at a check point as he left Gaza, Salah was arrested.”

Has Humza Yousaf buried his past?

Somehow, Yousaf is now a respected figure in Scottish politics and is believed to have put much of his past behind him. If his plans come to fruition he will become one of the most powerful men in Europe, imbued with a firm belief that things have to change.

Humza Yousaf was married to Gail Lythgoe, a red-headed Muslim convert. He had called for Scotland to take in Palestinian refugees, and urged a full arms embargo of the State of Israel.

Humza Yousaf, a Jew hater

Humza Yousaf is a Jew hater, a Holocaust denier, nefariously anti-Semitic and a firebrand supporter of Palestinian terrorists as well as Hamas. He is also sympathetic to Islamic State and radical Islamic jihad.

Back in 2018, weeks after the US embassy was shifted to Jerusalem, Humza Yousaf twitted on May 24, 2018 at 05:20 pm: “More killings of Palestinians today, reportedly including children. Trump’s unilateral decision to recognize occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital doesn’t just fly in the face of international law & consensus, it will only inflame tension in a region that does not need it”.

Humza Yousaf’s connection with Muslim Brotherhood

July 18, 2014 Commenting on the latest situation in Gaza and Israel and confirming that Scotland stands ready to accept Palestinian refugees, External Affairs Minister Humza Yousaf said:

‘The start of a ground offensive is a serious and worrying development. The lives lost in this conflict are individual human tragedies and the killing of innocent civilians, be they Palestinian or Israeli, is to be utterly condemned. The rocket attacks on Israel are unacceptable and should stop, as should the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which is heavily disproportionate, as demonstrated by the mounting civilian death toll.

‘As a Government we continue to call for a complete cessation to all violence and add our voice to those in the international community for an immediate, longer term ceasefire, and that both sides in this conflict put an end to the violence that is causing so many civilian deaths and injuries.

‘The worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza has been well documented and the UN now estimates that over 18,000 people have been internally displaced. I have today written to the Home Secretary and told her that Scotland would be willing to accept Palestinian refugees and urged the UK to also play a part in easing the refugee crisis in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories’.

Back in 2011, Daniel Greenfield in an article titled ‘Scotland goes mad for Islam’ wrote:

In an astoundingly short time, the Scottish National Party has gone from collaborating with Nazis, to collaborating with Islamists. Its talk of Scottish values has become a farce. SNP candidate Humza Yousaf took his oath of allegiance in the Scottish Parliament in Urdu. Jahangir Hanif became known as the Kalashnikov Councilor over a video of him firing an AK-47 in an armed camp in Pakistan. And the SNP has funneled hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Scottish Islamic Foundation, which has served as a forum for Muslim Brotherhood speakers. The unemployed of West Dunbartonshire face cuts, but there’s always money on hand for the Scottish Islamic Foundation.

The SNP’s obsessive anti-war rhetoric is not Pro-Scotland, it is Pro-Islamist. Salmond’s dirty deal that set the Lockerbie bomber free is more of the same.

Salmond defended the release of the murderous terrorist as following the principles of Gandhi, but it is more likely that he was thinking of Gaddafi.  SNP’s European parliamentarians remain obsessed with Israel, while giving Hamas a pass. Salmond’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, a good friend of SNP’s first Muslim councilor, Bashir Ahmad, has never missed a chance to blast Israel in support of Muslim terrorists. And at a time when NHS Scotland was facing shortages and cuts, she took the lead in offering free medical aid to Hamas run Gaza.

The Scottish National Party may still wave the saltire, but it might as well replace it with the star and crescent. Muslim immigration has boosted its political fortunes, but the aging Scottish population is being displaced by Pakistani immigrants. As immigration rules funnel more Muslims to Scotland to replace the native population, the Scottish National Party is aligning itself with an Islamist agenda. Mosques are clashing with traditional pubs. Scottish medical workers have been barred from eating at their desks during Ramadan. The Burka is being promoted and Scottish Muslims have been planning to set up an Islamic state in some remote part of Scotland. But they might as well do it in Glasgow.

Scottish government accused of funding pro-terror group

On March 26, 2016, Samuel Westrop wrote in the Gatestone Institute journal:

The Daily Express revealed last week that Islamic Relief Worldwide, a British charity accused of links to terrorism, was presented with £398,000 of the taxpayers’ money by the Scottish Government last year, as part of its £9 million International Development Fund.

The funding was announced by Scottish politician Humza Yousaf, formerly the Media spokesperson for Islamic Relief Worldwide, and currently a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament and Minister for External Affairs and International Development. This grant comes in addition to the European Union’s grant of €22 million provided to Islamic Relief Worldwide between 2007 and 2011.

Westrop further wrote:

The Scottish Government has always appeared willing to consort with extremists. The leader of the Scottish Government, Alex Salmond, has met with Dr. Azzam Tamimi, a leading advocate in Britain for the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Tamimi declared in 2004, “If I can go to Palestine and sacrifice myself, I would do it.” In 2005, Tamimi said, “We have been impressed by the warm and welcoming attitude of the SNP.”

Further, in 2005 Salmond was happy to speak on the same platform as Sir Iqbal Sacranie, a leading British Islamist who said of the author, Salman Rushdie: “Death, perhaps, is a bit too easy for him.”

The donation to Islamic Relief is not the first time, in fact, that the Scottish Government has provided financial support to extremist charities connected to Scottish National Party members. In 2010, opposition parties called for an independent investigation into the Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF), which is headed by Humza Yousaf’s cousin and a fellow SNP parliamentary candidate, Osama Saeed. The SIF was handed more than £400,000 by SNP ministers.

Osama Saeed was previously the spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Britain, which is the leading voice of the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain. In 2005, Saeed called for the re-establishment of the caliphate, an Islamist aspiration to unite the Islamic World under one Islamic theocracy. In 2006, Saeed voiced praise for the late Al Qaeda leader, Anwar Al-Awlaki, writing:

“Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki was originally hounded in the US because two of the 9/11 bombers happened to pray at his mosque. Many of my Muslim readers will either know him personally or have heard his lectures. He preached nothing but peace, and I pray he will be able to do so again.”

In 2009, the Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think-tank, issued an ‘alert’ which stated that Saeed’s Scottish Islamic Foundation, since its foundation, had acted to provide a platform for extremist Islamists and advocated Muslim Brotherhood-style policies. The Quilliam Foundation further noted that, in 2008, the Scottish Islamic Foundation had arranged for Mohammed Sawalha, a fugitive Hamas commander, to meet with the Scottish culture minister, Linda Fabiani.

4 COMMENTS

  1. I find much of your material interesting but the SNP (Scottish National Party) is a very broad church and not all of its members support, or are even aware of, financial contributions made on their behalf to extremist Islamist organizations.

  2. Islamic Republic of Scotland not far off.. First step break off from GB, then its easy. Hats off to the imbecile subjects who put them in office. Walk with heads held high Scots as you walk the last walk to the slaughterhouse. God save Scotland. Thanks for the brilliant article.

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