What did Jeremy Corbyn say about Israel, Hamas, and Palestine? Is he at the Labour Party conference?

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has often voiced his support for Palestine in the past, has weighed in on militant group Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Islington MP said: “The unfolding events in Israel and Palestine are deeply alarming. We need an immediate ceasefire and urgent de-escalation. And we need a route out of this tragic cycle of violence: ending the occupation is the only means of achieving a just and lasting peace.”

Some people have praised Corbyn for putting Hamas’ attack in the context of the long-standing history of conflict between Israel and Palestine, which has seen decades of fighting and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced. However, others have slammed the former party leader for failing to condemn the actions of Hamas, after its fighters attacked and killed civilians in Israel, and admitted to taking people hostage.

According to The Guardian, up to 100 Israelis, including women and children, may have been taken into Gaza by Hamas. This follows distressing images and videos which have emerged on social media, of Israeli soldiers and civilians - some bloodied, others with their hands tied behind their backs - being marched away or bundled into vans by Hamas militants.

Corbyn has been recorded talking about his stance on the Hamas attack on Sunday (8 October), when a journalist from ITV News confronted him in Liverpool - where the Labour Party conference is taking place.

In the video, posted to X, the MP said: “Yesterday I put out a statement calling for a ceasefire, calling for peace, and calling for an end to the occupation of Palestine, which is fundamentally the background to the whole issue. Obviously, all attacks are wrong.”

He concluded by saying, “I think I’ve made my point”, but was then pushed further - with the journalist again asking: “Do you condemn Hamas?” Corbyn repeated his earlier statement, while a member of the public can be heard remarking in the background: “Listen to him. What he’s saying is right.”

What has Corbyn previously said about Hamas?

In 2016, Corbyn has told MPs investigating accusations of antisemitism in the Labour Party that he regrets once calling members of Hamas and Hezbollah “friends”.

The MP, who was then the leader of the party, admitted he had used the phrase to describe the militant groups during a meeting in Parliament in 2009 - claiming he had done so to “encourage there to be a discussion about the peace process” between Israel and Palestine.

Asked whether he still regarded Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends”, Corbyn said: “No. It was inclusive language I used which with hindsight I would rather not have used. I regret using those words, of course.”

What has Corbyn previously said about Palestine?

Corbyn has often spoken out about his support for Palestine. In one example, in May 2019, the MP told a pro-Palestine rally in central London that the Labour Party was “united in condemning the ongoing human rights abuses by Israeli forces, including the shooting of hundreds of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza.”

Hamas praised Corbyn’s comments, remarking in a statement: “In his message, Jeremy Corbyn condemned the Israeli forces’ shooting at unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza who were calling for their rights to be recognised. He stressed that peace cannot be achieved with the continued illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.

“This message expresses support and solidarity with the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights to freedom, independence, and self-determination. It also condemns the ongoing occupation and its crimes against our people, and reflects an advanced moral and political position worthy of all praise and thanks.”

This prompted criticism, particularly from Jewish members of the Labour Party. Jennifer Gerber, director of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “Any decent politician would run a mile from the endorsement of an anti-semitic terror group which brutally suppresses the Palestinian people and is responsible for the deaths of countless innocent men, women and children.

“The fact that Jeremy Corbyn chooses not to do so says all you need to know about the man and his warped and horrifying world view.”

Corbyn was frequently accused of anti-semitism while he was in frontline politics - and a report by the UK’s human rights watchdog, published in October 2020, found that Labour was responsible for “unlawful” acts of harassment and discrimination against Jewish people while Corbyn was party leader.

In a statement, it said: “The equality body’s analysis points to a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it.”

Corbyn was suspended from Labour over his response to the report, in which he said: “Anyone claiming there is no anti-Semitism in the Labour Party is wrong, [but] the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media”.

Is he at the Labour Party conference?

Although he was spotted in Liverpool by ITV, Corbyn was a no-show at the Labour Party conference on Sunday (8 October).

Corbyn, who is still a Labour member despite being kicked out of the parliamentary party, was billed as speaking alongside MPs at a Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament event on the fringes of the conference in Liverpool, but ultimately did not appear for the talk, which was titled Wages Not Weapons: Why Labour’s Spending Priorities Must Change”.

Sources close to Corbyn said he did not apply for a pass to the conference this year, and will instead address the left-wing World Transformed festival taking place in separate venues in Liverpool.