Former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn while being interviewed by Piers Morgan on Talk TV refused to call Hamas a terrorist group despite being asked at least 19 times. The 1-minute 43-second clip doing the rounds on X, formerly Twitter, shows Piers Morgan grilling Corbyn in clear words, “Are Hamas a terror group?”
Jeremy Corbyn remains visibly uncomfortable through the course of questioning and even gets annoyed and attempts to circle around the question but fails to reply in clear words. All he manages to say is that he does not approve, support or welcome Hamas. And yet Corbyn is unable to call Hamas a terror group.
When Morgan says that it’s a critical question, Corbyn, unable to answer, says, “Are you done yet?” Morgan points out that the UK considers Hamas a terror group and asks Corbyn if he agrees and if should they stay in power. Corbyn, rolling his eyes, says that everybody knows what they are.
He then tells Morgan, “Can we have a discussion? Is it possible to have a rational discussion?” and then tries to corner the show host. At one point Corbyn does appear to attempt to answer but only finds it in himself to appropriate his reply by saying that “a ceasefire means both sides (interrupted)”.
It is only natural for Jeremy Corbyn to not be able to call out terrorists because he is known to support them. In the past, Corbyn has referred to Hamas and Hezbollah, radical Islamic terrorists, as ‘friends’, a statement which he later said he regretted but vowed that he would not stop talking with them.
In return, Corbyn received a ringing endorsement and a “salute” from Hamas. “We have received with great respect and appreciation the solidarity message sent by the British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to the participants in the mass rally,” Hamas said in a statement.
Jeremy Corbyn has a long and chequered history of supporting terrorists and extremists everywhere. Whether they were from Ireland or Kashmir, Lebanon or Gaza, Corbyn has always found a soft spot for them.
Corbyn has often supported Kashmiri separatists against India with the same narrative that is used by Pakistan on the matter. Anti-semitism and racism are also some of the many allegations levelled against Corbyn.
Moreover, Corbyn was at the protests held by Islamists in the UK on 11th November, when the country was marking Armistice Day. Piers Morgan mentioned the same and asked Corbyn about the anti-semitic elements who were changing hateful slogans at the so-called protests.
“I am concerned about the ones who were chanting death to the Jews, the ones who were wearing Hamas regalia, the one (interrupted)..,” the show host asked when he was interrupted by a second panellist, the former general secretary of UK Len McCluskey.
Jeremy Corbyn justified the presence of hateful elements at the 11th November march by saying that a large number of Jews were also protesting simultaneously. And yet, when the host asked Corbyn if he as condemned Hamas, Corbyn says, “Of course I have on every speech, on every speech that I have made I have utterly condemned the killing of October 7th and it was a taking of innocent life, it was totally wrong under any circumstances.”
And immediately he jumps to the next sentence taking a 180-degree u-turn saying that you don’t bring back the tragedy of those 1400 deaths by killing 10,000 people in Gaza. At this point, Piers Morgan shoots the question. “Do you think Hamas should stay in charge of Palestinians in Gaza?” Morgan asks Corbyn.
Videos from the Armistice Day march by “pro-Palestinians” show Islamists vandalising British structures, reading Namaz on the streets,
Corbyn, again finds himself in a tough spot and says that it is not for us to decide who is in charge of the Palestinians. Len McCluskey joined to suggest how to get Hamas once and for all. And the onus that he puts on Israel recommending that the latter should give what Hamas wants.
“Get the Israeli government to comply with international law, withdraw from the occupied territories, dismantle the illegal settlements and build a viable Palestine,” McCluskey suggests. When countered by Morgan asking why would that stop Hamas, he says that because “there would not be a need for Hamas”.
Piers Morgan also hit Corbyn’s raw nerve when he said “You used to call them (Hamas) friends” referring to the Labour leader’s statement in the past where he called Hamas and Hezbollah his “friends”. He kept denying during the interview that he did.
The anti-India inclinations of Jeremy Corbyn and his meeting with Rahul Gandhi
In May 2022, Rahul Gandhi met Jeremy Corbyn during his visit to Britain. Interestingly, Gandhi chose to visit Corbyn, despite the latter’s controversial past, most notably his anti-India stance. He has always supported Kashmiri separatists and perpetuated Pakistan’s rhetoric on the subject of Kashmir. During his time as the head of the Labour Party, his party’s MPs tried to interfere in the Kashmir issue several times, repeating Pakistan’s talking points. The Labour Party even passed a resolution asking for international intervention in Kashmir and a call for a UN-led referendum during Corbyn’s tenure.
Corbyn himself directly tried to interfere in Kashmir through the Congress party when he met their representatives to discuss the issue of Kashmir, though neither Corbyn nor Congress was in power at that time.