NADIA El-Nakla has attended an international summit in Istanbul calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
First Minister Humza Yousaf’s wife was invited to the One Heart for Palestine event by the first lady of Turkey, it is understood.
The Times reports that El-Nakla attended the event in a personal capacity, alongside a number of leaders’ spouses, and delegates from Palestine, Qatar and Uzbekistan, among others.
Her parents, Elizabeth and Maged, were trapped in Gaza for weeks following the events of October 7. They managed to escape via the Rafah crossing in Egypt on November 3.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine hosted the event to call for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, and call for an “immediate ceasefire”.
Spouses from more than 15 countries, including Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan and Egypt were represented at the three-day gathering.
The Times reports that El-Nakla told participants: “I am gathering with a number of prominent women for one reason, and for one reason alone, to ensure that humanity prevails and that no more innocent men, women or children die.
“The devastation in Gaza is horrifying and unimaginable to most of us; schools being turned to rubble, refugee camps being hit, hospitals bombed and amputations taking place without anaesthetic.
“We should not look away.”
An SNP Dundee City councillor, El-Nakla was accompanied to the event by a party press officer, it was reported.
El-Nakla also spoke of her brother, Mohammad, who is a doctor in Gaza at the summit.
“It is beyond anyone’s worst nightmare — every ten minutes a child is killed,” she said.
“My brother, Mohammad, is a doctor in Gaza. He says every day brings more death and destruction.
“One of his jobs right now is to try and match body parts to the correct body.
“This is inhumane suffering and cruelty. That is why we need a ceasefire, and we need one now.”
Turkey’s first lady was also outspoken in her criticism of Israel during the war, telling the summit: “We will never surrender to this darkness that discriminates a life from another, that devalues everyone who is not like it.
“For this reason, I invite the spouses of all heads of state to be the voice of those killed in Gaza and those whose voices are being suppressed and silenced while a mass slaughter continues,” she added.
Asked about her attendance at the summit, El-Nakla said: “As a Scottish-Palestinian peace activist for over two decades, with family trapped in the current unimaginable horror in Palestine, I will do all I can to call for a ceasefire and peace for all the innocent civilians suffering.
“At the … summit, I shared my deeply personal account of the impact of the conflict on my family in Gaza.“ We told how Yousaf said he shed “tears of relief” after sharing the news that his in-laws would be coming home. He has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
It comes after Labour faced a rebellion of 56 MPs in the Commons on Wednesday night, who backed the SNP’s amendment to the King’s Speech calling for a ceasefire.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has insisted that “humanitarian pauses” is the correct course of action, despite the party being rocked by resignations, including from a number of frontbenchers.
