RUSHES: SNP Conference 2023: Humza Yousaf speech

SNP Conference 2023: Humza Yousaf speech; SCOTLAND: Aberdeen: INT Humza Yousaf MSP (First Minister of Scotland) speech SOT. - "2.2m innocent people cannot pay the price for the actions of Hamas. And here at home, to Scotland’s Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian communities, you are communities I love, and I want you to know that as First Minister and as a fellow human being, I share the pain and sorrow you are feeling. I have attended your synagogues, your churches and your mosques. You are communities I have grown up with, danced with, laughed with, and in this last week, that I have shed many tears with. Each and every person in Scotland, from all of the vibrant communities of our nation must feel safe here. As long as I am First Minister let me be abundantly clear, there is no room for antisemitism, Islamophobia or hatred of any kind here in Scotland. Conference, the great American writer Toni Morrison said this. “No more apologies for a bleeding heart, when the opposite is no heart at all. “Danger of losing our humanity must be met with more humanity.” In the past, people in Scotland and across the UK have opened our hearts and our homes and welcomed those from Syria, Ukraine and many other countries. We must do so again. There are currently around one million people displaced within the Gaza strip – I am therefore today calling on the international community to commit to a worldwide refugee programme for the people of Gaza. I am calling on the UK Government to take two urgent steps. Firstly, they should immediately begin work on the creation of a refugee resettlement scheme for those in Gaza who want to, and are able to, leave. And when they do so, Scotland is willing to be the first country in the UK to offer safety and sanctuary to those caught up in these terrible attacks.