Jeremy Corbyn called banned terror group Hamas ‘serious and hard-working’ after admitting attending wreath-laying ceremony for Palestinian killer
Comments emerged just a day after it was revealed he visited a wreath-laying ceremony behind Munch Olympics terrorist
JEREMY Corbyn faced a fresh backlash last night after it emerged he once called terror group Hamas “serious and hardworking”.
And the Labour leader called for an end to a favourable EU trade deal with Israel in the same 2010 radio interview as a way of forcing through peace talks.
The comments came 24 hours after it emerged Mr Corbyn visited a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of one of the terrorists behind the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.
Hamas runs the Gaza Strip in Palestine and is a banned terror organisation in Britain.
During the recording - aired yesterday by LBC – Mr Corbyn said: “It is not a question of whether one agrees or disagrees with Hamas on its political strategies or indeed its social strategies
“You have to recognise that the reality is they have a great deal of support, they have a great deal of respect from a lot of Palestinians who wouldn’t necessarily politically agree with them but recognise they are serious, hard-working and they are not corrupt.”
And during the interview with ‘Reality Radio’, Mr Corbyn criticised Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for not entering peace talks with the organisation.
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Last night the Board of Deputies of British Jews said it had already expressed its “profound concerns” with Labour.
President Jonathan Arkush said: “Our concern is that Mr Corbyn has too often in the past been in sympathetic encounters with terrorist individuals and organisations – with the by-product of lending legitimacy to their violence.
“We have called repeatedly for Mr Corbyn to make explicit a clear break with terrorist organisations, to unequivocally condemn their actions and show solidarity with their victims.”
A Labour spokesman said: "Jeremy believes all parties that have credible levels of popular support, including Hamas, need to be part of the political process.
"Jeremy was arguing that trade relationships was a form of diplomatic pressure to be considered to encourage engagement in the peace process."