JEREMY Corbyn has refused to apologise for attending a memorial service that honoured terrorists linked to the lethal attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The Labour leader admitted laying a wreath at the Palestinian Martyrs Cemetery in Tunisia in 2014, but said he did so along with “many other people.”
On Monday, Mr Corbyn was ridiculed after he admitted “being present” when a wreath was laid on the graves of terrorists, but added: “I don’t think I was actually involved in it.”
Mr Corbyn has faced mounting criticism after pictures emerged of him holding a wreath near the graves of Palestinians linked to the Black September attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at Munich.
In 2014, Mr Corbyn said he had commemorated 47 Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike on the PLO HQ in Tunis in 1985, but also mentioned wreaths laid being “on the graves of others killed by Mossad agents in 1991”.
This was an apparent reference to PLO intelligence boss Atef Bseiso, who was tied to the Munich attack, was killed by Mossad in Paris in 1992, and whose grave is in the cemetery.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Mr Corbyn deserved “unequivocal condemnation”, prompting the Labour leader to accuse him of making “false” claims.
As rows over anti-Semitism continued to dog Labour, Mr Corbyn was pressed about the Tunisia visit by reporters, and said: “I laid one wreath along with many other people.”
But Mr Corbyn insisted his wreath commemorated those killed in the 1985 air strike, but admitted it had been laid “on the graves of all those who died”.
He said: “I, along with other colleagues... laid a wreath in memory of those who died in the hope that we have a peace process and peace in the future so those raids are never repeated. I'm not apologising for being there at all."
The Labour leader appeared increasingly exasperated, at one point rolling his eyes.
He said: “I was there when the wreaths were laid, that's pretty obvious. There were many others there who were witness to that. I witnessed many other people laying many wreaths.
"I laid one wreath along with many other people in memory, as I've said, of all those who died in the awful attack in 1985 which as I keep repeating... was condemned by the whole world" including the UN Security council, and US and UK governments.
Labour MP Luciana Berger said being “present” was “the same as actually being involved”.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted: “If Jeremy Corbyn thinks terrorism is justified for the causes he believes in, how would he as prime minister have the moral authority to condemn terrorist murders of British citizens? Unbelievable and shocking.”
Tory peer Lord Sheikh, who was also at the peace conference in 2014 that Mr Corbyn attended said members of Hamas may also have been present.
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