A Member of Parliament from Britain’s Liberal Democrats sparked outrage during a House of Commons session on April 2, when he referred to the Israel Defense Forces as “murderous” and accused them of effectively detaining Gaza’s entire population.
Andrew George, who represents the constituency of St Ives, said, “We all want the hostages to be freed, just as we want the 2 million hostages in Gaza being held hostage by the murderous IDF, which is treating them with disdain and starving them, to be freed.”
George directed harsh criticism at Minister of State for the Middle East Hamish Falconer, expressing frustration over what he viewed as a weak response to Israel’s actions. “If the Minister is not prepared to make the statement that many of us wish for him to make, will he at least admit that the actions of the far-right Israeli Government can no longer be described as self-defense?”
In his reply, Falconer indicated that the UK government is seriously evaluating whether Israel may be violating international humanitarian law. He stated, “a serious risk of breaches of international humanitarian law, that is the same as saying that we think there is a serious risk that Israel is not simply acting in its own legitimate self-defense.”
George has a history of making inflammatory claims against Israel. He has repeatedly accused the country of engaging in ethnic cleansing in Gaza and has used provocative language to describe its military operations.
Back in January, George had said, “The Netanyahu regime continues to seek to justify its cold-blooded slaughter of Palestinian people behind the dishonest façade of self-defense.”
A source within the Jewish Labour movement condemned George’s remarks, telling Jewish News that the comments from the Liberal Democrat MP were “shamefully simplistic.”
{Matzav.com}