HUMZA Yousaf called out the media and politicians in an appearance on Sky News for not using the term “ethnic cleansing” to refer to what’s happening in Gaza.
It comes after Donald Trump sparked international concern after calling for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza – saying he believes in a “clean out” of the Palestinian region.
The US president called for the population of Gaza to be housed elsewhere, either temporarily or long-term, in comments that experts say amounts to support for a war crime.
Speaking about Trump's comments in an appearance on Sky News with presenter Kay Burley, the former first minister said the US president's remarks were the “textbook definition of ethnic cleansing”.
“To suggest that one set of people should be forcibly removed from their land and that land then given to others is by any definition ethnic cleansing,” he said.
“And I think the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary should make it abundantly clear that they will not support any such plan, and they should call it ethnic cleansing.”
Yousaf added: “That's exactly what it is, but this is the world we live in. We have somebody who is giving the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing, and yet politicians are too frightened to say.”
He then called out the media, including Sky News and Burley: “Even some media outlets, I'm afraid, are unable to say it.
"I mean, you've not used the term, but it is ethnic cleansing.”
Previously, Gerhard Kemp, a professor of criminal law at the University of the West of England, said that Trump’s calls amounted to ethnic cleansing – a crime against humanity – and “could even be viewed as genocide”.
The far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich welcomed Trump’s comments, saying: “The idea of helping them find other places to start a better life is a great idea. After years of glorifying terrorism, they will be able to establish new and good lives in other places.”
Smotrich said that "out-of-the-box" thinking, like Trump's, is what is needed.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said: “Ethnic cleansing is anything but an ‘out-of the box’ thinking, no matter how one packages it. It is illegal, immoral and irresponsible.”
