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Tuesday, 21 August 2018

Corbyn met terror leaders, but not Jews, on trip to Israel in 2010 - claim

This Times of Israel report https://www.timesofisrael.com/corbyn-met-terror-leaders-but-not-jews-on-trip-to-israel-in-2010/ is a must read, here's part of it, but it's the last line that is key:

'UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited terror leaders during a 2010 trip to Israel and the West Bank, according to a Monday report, the latest in a series of exposés showing the embattled British politician alongside Palestinian terror groups.

Corbyn also broke British parliamentary rules by failing to disclose that the trip was funded by a lobby group, i24News reported.

The Labour leader was joined on the trip by fellow Labour MP Andrew Slaughter and by Seumas Milne, who currently serves as Corbyn's director of communications and strategy.

The visit took place from November 5-9, 2010, and was reported at the time by Palestinian Ma'an news agency

Slaughter declared the trip, saying it was sponsored by Friends of Al-Aqsa and The Middle East Monitor (MEMO), a UK-based pro-Palestinian lobbying group. He said that the total costs came to £927 ($1,500), i24News reported. Corbyn did not list the visit to parliament, though at the time MPs had to declare any gifts above £660 ($840).

A detailed summary of the trip was deleted from the MEMO site, but i24News saved a copy of the original report.

According to the MEMO report, the lawmakers toured from the northern Arab city of Umm al-Fahm to the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev.

In East Jerusalem the lawmakers met three senior Hamas members, Ahmad Attoun, Khaled Abu-Arafah, and Muhammad Totah, who were staging a protest in the Red Cross building as Israel attempted to deport them to the West Bank for their involvement with the terror group.

The MEMO description of the visit details the many accounts of "crimes" of the "Israeli occupation" including home demolitions, "ethnic cleansing," and "apartheid" that the MPs heard at every stop they made. They also learned about the importance of the BDS boycott against Israel and were urged to support it.

Following the visit, Corbyn summarized what he had learned in his regular column in the left-wing Morning Star newspaper.

"It is time to bring those Israelis who committed crimes against humanity to account and to end the EU Israel Trade Agreement while the occupation and settlement policy continues," he wrote, according to the report.

From the detailed 47-page MEMO report of the visit, it appears that the delegation did not meet with any Jewish Israelis during the four days.

A spokesperson for the Labour Party defended the trip, telling i24News it showed Corbyn's commitment to peace.

"Jeremy has a long and principled record of solidarity with the Palestinian people and engaging with actors in the conflict to support peace and justice in the Middle East. That is the right thing to do," he said. However, he declined to comment on why Corbyn did not declare the trip in his financial report.

The Labour leader has in the past been criticized for calling terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah "friends" when inviting members for a parliamentary meeting in 2009. He later downplayed the comment and said he regretted using the term.

An unnamed senior Labour party member told i24News that, "I imagine he's met more people who have killed Israelis than actual Israelis."'

The BBC are of course not reporting this story but that's because they are mainly interested in ensuring that Jeremy Corbyn is not damaged just in case that means that the next General Election is not won by anyone other than the Labour Party. I say mainly because the BBC are guilty of infracting at least one of the IHRA definitions of antisemitism.


Once again - 'An unnamed senior Labour party member told i24News that, "I imagine he's met more people who have killed Israelis than actual Israelis."'

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