Andy Slaughter is Labour MP for Hammersmith and the shadow justice minister.
Being on the front bench is no obstacle to helping extremists. Here is a picture of him speaking at a “boycott Israeli dates” meeting earlier this week. It is part of a long-running campaign of the Friends of Al Aqsa group, the fanatical Israel bashers led by Hamas supporter and antisemite Ismail Patel.
Presumably one should buy dates from other major producers, such as the champions of human rights Tunisia, Egypt and Iran.
Tomorrow Slaughter will join the thugs of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign at a demonstration against Israel outside Downing Street. His company will include Jenny Tonge and Green MP Caroline Lucas.
Earlier this year he spoke at an event of the Palestinian Return Centre. It wasn’t the first time he has spoken at meetings of that London band of Hamasniks.
Slaughter has also welcomed members of Viva Palestina, George Galloway’s charity dedicated to the political and material support of Hamas, to Westminster.
Unsurprisingly he has also been a speaker at the “Global Peace and Unity” event, an annual Islamist hate fest organised by the Islam Channel.
Slaughter has even been to Jerusalem and the West Bank for the cause, where he met with Hamas officials last year. The trip was organised by Ismail Patel’s Friends of Al Aqsa and Daud Abdullah’s Middle East Monitor (MEMO). On that jaunt he had Seumas Milne, Jeremy Corbyn and Hanan Chehata of MEMO for company.
He has also been to Gaza, where he met more Hamas officials. His conclusion? Talk to Hamas, because they’re into progress, don’t you know.
One way to break the deadlock is to negotiate without preconditions with those who have a mandate and a willingness to achieve progress. From my experience now on several visits to the region in the past three years, this includes Hamas.
After one of his Hamas meetings, this was the Labour line:
A Labour Party spokesman said: “We are not going to comment.”
If you want to get ahead in Labour and also help Hamas, no problem, the party won’t stop you.
In fact, it will even give you Labour’s “justice” portfolio as you consort with extremists and criminals.
