Labour denies Jeremy Corbyn honoured 'Munich Massacre terrorists' amid fresh claims
3 min read
Labour has insisted Jeremy Corbyn did not honour Palestinian terrorists thought to be behind the killing of 11 Israeli athletes after claims new evidence questions his account.
An investigation by the Daily Mail claimed the Labour leader stood near the graves of terror leaders linked to the Munich Massacre for a memorial ceremony.
The attack at the 1972 Olympics saw 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Black September, a splinter group of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
Mr Corbyn has previously insisted he visited Tunisia in 2014, a year before becoming Labour leader, to commemorate the 47 Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike in 1985 and "others killed by Mossad agents".
But the paper said its pictures show Mr Corbyn standing 15 yards from the monument to the air strike victims and in front of the graves of the alleged Black September members.
A nearby plaque is said to honour Salah Khalad, claimed to be the founder of Black September, his aide Fakhri al-Omari, and PLO chief of security Hayel Abdel-Hamid.
All of them were thought to be assassinated by the Israeli secret service Mossad or rival Palestinian factions.
A Labour source told PoliticsHome Mr Corbyn had addressed the issue in his previous statements, when the claims about his visit first surfaced during the general election last year.
He had said: “I was in Tunisia at a Palestinian conference and I spoke at that Palestinian conference and I laid a wreath to all those that had died in the air attack that took place on Tunis, on the headquarters of the Palestinian organisations there.
“And I was accompanied by very many other people who were at a conference searching for peace.
“The only way we achieve peace is by bringing people together and talking to them.”
The Labour source insisted the Mail’s pictures did not contradict Mr Corbyn’s statements.
'UTTERLY UNSURPRISING'
But Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel, told the Mail: “It beggars belief that anyone would wish to honour the terrorists behind the brutal massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at Munich.
“However, it is sadly utterly unsurprising that Jeremy Corbyn appears to have done so.”
Gideon Falter, of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, told the paper: “A responsible politician would not have gone anywhere near that ceremony, but Mr Corbyn is not a responsible politician.
“Given Mr Corbyn's history of defending, honouring and befriending anti-Semites, including genocidal anti-Semitic terrorists, this latest revelation adds to the deeply disturbing evidence that the leader of the opposition is a longstanding ally of those who wish us great harm.”
Just yesterday, Mr Corbyn was accused of comparing Israeli government actions with those of the Nazis in Europe, while earlier this week footage emerged appearing to show him questioning Israel's right to exist.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
