Jeremy Corbyn has said that he was present but not involved at a wreath-laying for people behind the group that carried out the Munich Olympics massacre.
The row centres on a wreath-laying event in Tunisia for two separate groups, both the victims of a 1985 Israeli airstrike in Tunis and for the Palestinian leaders linked to the Black September terror group who killed Israeli athletes.
There are memorials to the victims of the 1985 bombing and a four graves for leading figures from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, thought to have been behind the Black September group, in different parts of the cemetery.
What was Jeremy Corbyn doing in Tunisia?
Corbyn was attending a conference in Tunisia called the International Conference on Monitoring the Palestinian Political and Legal Situation in the Light of Israeli Aggression.
In an article for the Morning Star in 2014, shortly after his visit, Corbyn said he was present for a ceremony honouring the 1985 victims and “others killed by Mossad agents in Paris in 1991”.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation’s intelligence chief Atef Bseiso – who has been accused of involvement in the Munich Olympics massacre – was killed in Paris in 1992, purportedly by Mossad. No-one was killed in Paris in 1991, so Corbyn may just have got the wrong date.
What do his critics say?
On Saturday, the Daily Mail published pictures of Corbyn holding a wreath at the Palestinian Martyrs’ Cemetery in Tunisia.
The paper said that its own visit to the cemetery had shown that the memorial for the victims of the 1985 bombing was 15 yards away from the spot where Corbyn was pictured holding a wreath.
The story claims the pictures were taken in front of a plaque honouring the founder of the Black September and yards from the grave of Bseiso.
What does Corbyn say?
Corbyn said that “a wreath was indeed laid” for “some of those who were killed in Paris in 1992” and added, in response to a question: “I was present at that wreath-laying, I don’t think I was actually involved in it.”
He added: “I was there because I wanted to see a fitting memorial to everyone who has died in every terrorist incident everywhere.”
Labour has said that Corbyn had already made clear he was paying his respects to the victims of a 1985 Israeli air strike on Palestinian Liberation Organisation offices in Tunis. But Corbyn’s remarks indicate he was at least aware of another wreath-laying at the memorial event.
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Corbyn:
Israeli PM @Netanyahu’s claims about my actions and words are false.
What deserves unequivocal condemnation is the killing of over 160 Palestinian protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces since March, including dozens of children.
Corbyn Tweets:
The nation state law sponsored by @Netanyahu’s government discriminates against Israel’s Palestinian minority.
I stand with the tens of thousands of Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel demonstrating for equal rights at the weekend in Tel Aviv.
ubercynic 