Hamas member's son helped write UK Labour motion against Israel - report
General secretary of the Arab Labour Group Omar Mofeed — Allegedly the son of Hamas official Dr. Mufid Al-Mokhalalati — was a lead drafter of a Labour conference motion on Israel.
A van with a slogan aimed at Britain’s Labour
Party is driven around London’s Parliament Square ahead of a debate on
antisemitism in Parliament, in April 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS/HANNAH MCKAY)
A Hamas official's son — who has himself expressed support for
Hamas in the past — has been revealed to be one of the lead drafters of
the UK Labour Party Conference motion
calling for sanctions against Israel and declaring it apartheid,
according to an investigation by the NGO Israel Advocacy Movement (IAM).
In an interview with Al-Jazeera, general secretary of the Arab
Labour Group Omar Mofeed — Allegedly the son of Hamas official Dr. Mufid
Al-Mokhalalati — was acknowledged as a drafter of a Labour conference
motion, along with another group, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, of
which he is also a director.
"Omar, I believe you were involved in the drafting of this motion?" An Al-Jazeera interviewer asked Mofeed.
"The
group [sic] called for this motion was the Young Labour, then it was
supported by 12 trade union[s], then Palestine Solidarity Campaign have
helped in writing it and Arab Labour Group have helped as well," said
Mofeed.
According
to a video released by IAM, Omar Mofeed is the son of Dr Mufid
Al-Mukhalalati, who was the health minister in Hamas's Gazan government.
Al-Mukhalalati died in 2014.
The Jewish Chronicle contacted Mofeed, who reportedly initially denied that his father was a Hamas member.
“My
father died in 2014 when I was still young," Mofeed told the Chronicle.
"He was a surgeon who did remarkable work, for which he is widely
recognised in Palestine, building health services for the people of
Gaza. I am deeply proud of the work that he did in caring for the health
of others and his legacy is extremely important to me.”
The
video also showcased social media posts by Mofeed in which he expressed
support for Hamas, individual terrorists, and terrorist activity.
Mofeed has since closed his Twitter and Facebook accounts.
In
one 2013 Facebook post, Mofeed called to kidnap Israeli soldiers to
ransom them for imprisoned Palestinian combatants. In 2015 he
celebrated the anniversary of the death of Hamas chief bomb-maker, Yahya
Ayyash.
A Facebook post by Omar Mofeed with a Hamas logo. (credit: Israel Advocacy Movement)
"When
it comes to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, mainstream political
parties like Labour are expected to act impartially," Joseph Cohen of
the Israel Advocacy Movement told The Jerusalem Post. "This is
why we were shocked when an al-Jazeera interview suggested Omar helped
draft a Labour motion highly critical of Israel.
"We
were shocked because anyone visiting his Facebook would have seen
numerous concerning posts. There were also a number of posts about his
father. It’s staggering that in the wake of the antisemitism scandal
that engulfed the Labour Party, someone with Omar’s public history would
not just be active in Labour but contributing to motions about Israel."
The UK Labour party passed the motion declaring on Israel on September 28 during their annual party conference.
The
motion condemned "the ongoing Nakba in Palestine, Israel’s militarised
violence attacking the Al Aqsa mosque, the forced displacements from
Sheikh Jarrah and the deadly assault on Gaza."
It
noted the "unequivocal 2021 reports by B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch
that conclude unequivocally that Israel is practising the crime of
apartheid as defined by the UN," and called for "stopping any arms trade
used to violate Palestinian human rights and trade with illegal Israeli
settlements."
However, according to the Financial Times,
Labour leadership indicated that the motion would not become official
party policy: "Labour’s policy is for a peaceful, negotiated two-state
solution that ensures a sovereign Palestinian state alongside a safe and
secure Israel," the party said in a statement.
One of the major criticisms of Jeremy Corbyn,
UK Labour party's previous leader, was his interactions and engagement
with members of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
IAM
is a British based organization that seeks "to establish a 'mass
movement' of Israeli advocates through training and mobilising a network
of passionate supporters of Israel."
Ariella Marsden contributed to this report.
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