AUTHOR and journalist Douglas Murray has sparked fierce criticism following comments he made about Humza Yousaf.
Speaking on The Rubin Report podcast – a Conservative US political talk show – he took aim at the First Minister, particularly his response to the crisis in Gaza.
He described Nadia El-Nakla as a “nasty piece of work” and said that Yousaf had become “the First Minister of Gaza”.
But who is Murray and what other comments has he made in the past which have attracted criticism?
Here’s all you need to know.
Who is Douglas Murray?
Murray is a "far-right" author and journalist who has worked as the associate editor of The Spectator since 2012.
He has also published a number of books. His most recent work – The War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason – was released in April last year.
Murray’s views have previously attracted criticism in the past, with the Muslim Council of Britain previously labelling him “deeply Islamophobic”.
In May this year, he was among the speakers at the National Conservatism Conference (NCC) – which was also attended by a number of senior Tories.
‘Germany mucked up twice’ claim
The author faced backlash after claiming Germany “mucked up” twice in the 20th century while speaking at the NCC.
In a speech about nationalism, Murray said it was a concept which sounds different “depending on the country you’re in”.
He said: “But the cordon sanitaire which used to exist around nationalism until recent years existed not because we didn’t trust the idea of love of country, not because, I would argue, there was anything wrong with nationalism in a British context.
"I see no reason why every other country in the world should be prevented from feeling pride in itself because the Germans mucked up twice in a century." -@DouglasKMurray at the #NatConUK gala dinner pic.twitter.com/XrxQ2mlrqW
— National Conservatism (@NatConTalk) May 16, 2023
“It all came from a recognition there was a problem with nationalism in a German context”.
He said he could “see no reason why every other country in the world should be prevented from feeling pride in itself because the Germans mucked up twice in a century”.
In response, the Hope Not Hate Group accused Murray of “trivialising the fact that the Nazis systematically murdered six million Jews during the Holocaust”.
Comments on Muslims
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has previously hit out at Murray for his “objectively racist” and “extremely Islamophobic” comments.
He has previously said “conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board” and called Islam an “opportunistic infection”.
Specifically, the MCB hit out after Home Secretary Suella Braverman (below) said that Murray “expresses mainstream, insightful and perfectly decent political views”.
She said that while people may disagree, it would not be fair to describe him as an “extremist”.
Secretary-general of the MCB Zara Mohammed said: “Let there be no doubt: Murray’s views are anything but mainstream; they are on the fringe and deeply Islamophobic.
“That the Home Secretary would defend Murray’s views as ‘mainstream,’ this time at the dispatch box no less, is as outrageous as it is dangerous.
“Once again, we call upon one and all, including Conservatives themselves, to stand and be counted against such alarming divineness, attempts to mainstream the unconscionable.”
In a recent article for The Sun, Murray spoke of “demos where people openly sympathise with the terrorists of Hamas and all those who want to destroy the Jewish state”.
He said that pro-Palestine demonstrations “have been full of young Muslims calling for Jihad” and added that “decades of uncontrolled migration have meant there is no difference between home and abroad anymore”.
On the word “Islamophobia", Murray said in a recent article for the New York Post: “Personally, I do not care for this word. It has always seemed to me to be – as my late friend Christopher Hitchens put it – ‘a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons’.”
What has he said about the First Minister?
Speaking on The Rubin Report podcast, Murray said: "People like Humza Yousaf, I say it carefully, have infiltrated our system.
"He does not seem to be much bothered by the situation of the Scottish people, or the people of Glasgow who have one of the lowest life expectancies not just in Britain but anywhere in Europe.
"He does not seem to care about that or if he does, he does nothing about it. But my word if you look at his social media proclamations... you would think that he was indeed First Minister of Gaza.
"This is a problem that the Scots must sort out, the Scottish electorate must sort out, indeed the British electorate must sort out."
The comments have sparked significant backlash with many taking to Twitter/X to defend the First Minister.
Brendan Cox, the widower of former MP Jo Cox who died after being shot and stabbed outside a library in her constituency, was among those to comment.
He said: "If a high profile journalist accused a Jewish political leader as having 'infiltrated our system' or branded them 'the first minister of Israel' they would be sacked for antisemitism.
"As they should be. Just because he's talking about a Muslim doesn't make it any more acceptable."
