Jewish Labour member says he wasn’t aware of Jordanian MP’s anti-Semitic remarks
Fabian Hamilton seeks to distance himself from Yahya al-Saud, whom he hosted last week, says he was ‘appalled to learn’ of his past comments
A Jewish member of the UK Labour Party has sought to distance himself from a Jordanian MP with whom he met last week and who has made anti-Semitic remarks and backed terrorism against Israelis.
Fabian Hamilton, who is shadow minister for peace and disarmament, said Monday he was not aware of Yahya al-Saud’s “appalling and Anti-Semitic remarks” when he met him and other Jordanian lawmakers in London.
“Being Jewish myself, I am appalled to learn of his remarks and totally reject any suggestion that I somehow support what he said simply because this MP was part of the delegation,” Hamilton wrote in a series of tweets.
He went on to hail Jordan as “a vital ally and good friend of the United Kingdom” and said he sure al-Saud’s views do not represent those of the Jordanian king and government.
I was not aware at the time of the appalling and Anti-Semitic remarks previously made by one member of the delegation that have now been reported in the press. (2/4)
— Fabian Hamilton (@FabianLeedsNE) July 15, 2019
Hamilton’s tweets came after al-Saud, a member of Jordan’s House of Representatives, posted a picture to his Facebook account Thursday of himself with Hamilton outside the Houses of Parliament.
According to al-Saud, he and other members of the Jordanian parliament’s Palestine Committee met with Hamilton at the House of Commons, where they discussed stopping Israel’s “racist” practices toward the Palestinians, as well other aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Al-Saud also met with members of the House of Lords, among them Jenny Tonge, who has a history of making anti-Semitic statements.
وفد "فلسطين النيابية" يلتقي اصدقاء فلسطين في مجلس العموم البريطاني التقت لجنة فلسطين النيابية خلال زيارتها الى لندن…
Posted by النائب يحيى السعود on Thursday, July 11, 2019
The Jordanian MP has on a number of occasions backed violence against Israel, including suicide bombings, and said the 1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace agreement “has brought nothing but disasters to the Jordanian people.”
He has also called to “liberate our holy places from the plundering Jews” and said he is “a slave to whoever takes me to Palestine as a fighter,” according to the Middle East Media Research Institute watchdog.
Hamilton’s meeting with al-Saud came as Labour faced fresh criticism over its handling of anti-Semitism in its ranks after a BBC program that aired last week said allies of Corbyn interfered in probes into instances of Jew hatred.
