Jeremy Corbyn attended a ceremony in Tunisia honouring the memory of a Palestinian terrorist who played a role in the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli Olympians, it has emerged.
Mr Corbyn, who used to write a regular column for the Communist Morning Star newspaper, described a ceremony he attended in October 2014 “where “wreaths were laid . . . on the graves of [those] killed by Mossad agents in Paris in 1991”. He described the day as “poignant”.
There is no record of Mossad having conducted an assassination in Paris in 1991. However, Mossad has been accused of carrying out an assassination in the French capital in 1992, when Atef Bseiso, the head of intelligence for the PLO and a terrorist involved involved in the Munich massacre, was shot and killed.
The Sunday Times described Mr Corbyn’s words as “an apparent reference” to Bseiso, who is believed to have been buried at the cemetery that Mr Corbyn visited.
At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Palestinian terrorists from the Black September group captured and subsequently murdered eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer. Israel hunted down and killed many of those involved; Bseiso was one of them.
In the same article, the man who is now leader of the Labour party described a “masterful” speech at a conference he attended the same day, which included, he wrote, the point that “foreign nationals serving in the Israeli Defence Force could become the subject of war crimes accusations following the bombing of civilian targets” during the 2014 Gaza offensive.
He claimed that the “formation of the unity government between Hamas and Fatah in April, following the collapse of talks with Israel over settlements in December, seems to have been the main catalyst for… [the] so-called Protective Edge assault” and that “part of the justification for the onslaught was the allegation that Hamas had abducted and killed three Israeli students in Hebron”.
Simon Johnson, the CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council, said:
"In light of today's news reports, it is high time that Jeremy Corbyn clarify his views regarding Palestinian terrorism.
At first sight, attending a wreath laying ceremony of a known terrorist, who led one of the most notorious acts of international terrorism, the attack on the Munich Olympics, would appear to be beyond the pale."
Jennifer Gerber, Director of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “It is almost unbelievable that any Labour MP would participate in a ceremony honouring a man involved in the vicious murder of innocent Israeli athletes. Unfortunately, this appears to be part of a very disturbing pattern of behaviour and we are seeking urgent clarification from the Leader's office on this matter."
