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George Galloway’s deputy has refused to condemn the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, in an indication of the controversy surrounding his Rochdale by-election win.
As Mr Galloway prepares to return to parliament, the deputy chief of his Workers Party advised Israel ought to have “expected” the attacks.
Former Labour MP Chris Williamson additionally accused the federal government and Labour of “effectively facilitating the genocide in Gaza”.
The former Labour MP for Derby North refused to condemn Hamas’ terror attacks
His remarks have been condemned by Labour’s Ellie Reeves, who mentioned it was “utterly appalling” for Mr Williamson not to condemn the 7 October atrocities.
It got here because the Board of Deputies of British Jews hailed Mr Galloway’s election win as a “dark day” for the UK’s Jewish group.
And the Campaign Against Antisemitism mentioned Mr Galloway’s “endurance in our public life serves to exploit extremist sentiment and divide communities”.
Following Mr Galloway’s win, Mr Williamson took to the airwaves to describe his boss as “probably the best orator in the world”.
He additionally mentioned Mr Galloway, an alleged antisemite infamous for stoking division and courting controversy, will “be able to speak truth to power” in Westminster.
And, when requested about October 7, he refused to condemn the Hamas attacks.
He advised BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “You can’t expect to live in a situation where people have been oppressed for 75 years and not expect a reaction.”
“In international law, oppressed peoples have an absolute right to armed resistance,” Mr Williamson mentioned, earlier than happening to declare that almost all of these harmless individuals killed on October 7 have been killed by Israeli forces.
Ms Reeves, Labour’s deputy nationwide marketing campaign coordinator, mentioned she was “utterly appalled by Chris Williamson’s failure to condemn Hamas attacks on the seventh of October, and likewise his failure to distance his party from the endorsement of [former president of the far-right British National Party] Nick Griffin”.
George Galloway declared his by-election win was ‘for Gaza’ in a problem to Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer
(REUTERS)
Mr Williamson is a former shut ally of Jeremy Corbyn and was suspended from the Labour occasion for claiming it had “given too much ground” and been “too apologetic” in tackling antisemitism.
He is now the deputy chief of Mr Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain.
The ex-Labour MP for Derby North had confronted earlier criticism for incidents of alleged antisemitism, together with providing to host a parliamentary screening of a movie by a Labour member suspended for claiming Jews had been the “chief financiers” of the slave commerce.
Mr Galloway received the Rochdale by-election with slightly below 40 per cent of the vote, a majority of 5,697 over second positioned David Tully, an area businessman and unbiased candidate.
In his victory speech, he mentioned: “Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza.” It echoed the message Mr Galloway sent upon his 2005 win in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, when he said: “Mr Blair, this is for Iraq.”
He added: “You have paid, and you will pay, a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.”
Labour’s former candidate Azhar Ali, who was suspended for making antisemitic feedback, got here fourth.
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