Influential Corbyn-supporting Facebook page run by Hamas
The "We Support Jeremy Corbyn" Facebook page, which has 72,000 members, was run from the Gaza strip from 2017 until recently.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSBritain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts at a launch event for the Labour party's general election campaign in London, Britain October 31, 2019. (photo credit: REUTERS/HENRY NICHOLLS)
Hamas officials in both Gaza and London are working in support of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party, ahead of the UK general election on Thursday.According to Tazpit Press Service (TPS), the "We Support Jeremy Corbyn" Facebook page, one of the largest and most influential Corbyn support networks globally with some 72,000 members, is managed from the Gaza strip.For over two years the page was managed by Walid Abu Rouk, a resident of Khan Yunis in the Gaza strip, after Labour Party members added him as a page manager in June 2017, declaring him "our man in Gaza." Abu Rouk confirmed to TPS that he served as the page's manager until recently.However, Rouk also has clear ties to the heart of Hamas' propaganda efforts. A source in the strip who wished to remain anonymous told TPS “Abu Rouk serves Hamas’ information campaign and is guided by it.”The official said that Rouk is a key link in Hamas' English language propaganda service thanks to his excellent command of the English language, and is operating under guidance from Hamas officials.In recent years, Hamas has taken to placing its people in strategic media locations, including as managers of Facebook pages. Gaza does not have a free press system; rather, news outlets in the strip are required to hand management of their social media accounts over to Hamas to control.Speaking with TPS, Rouk said that he writes for Al Jazeera, the Qatari owned news network affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, for PALESTINE 24, and for Middle East Eye. He is also the founder of the GP+ media site based in Gaza, which is run by Muhammad Ibrahim Madun, a journalist often quoted internationally as a Hamas affiliate.But his links extend beyond the Middle East and into London: he also writes for London-based Memo Monitor, thought to be one of the Muslim Brotherhood's media outlets. Memo Monitor often publishes pro-Corbyn and Labour Party content.Another senior reporter at Memo Monitor, Motasem Dalloul, also resident in Gaza, edits the Hamas-affiliated website Days of Palestine. According to a source in Gaza, Dalloul also edits the English content on Hamas' official al-Risala website, and is a key figure in Hamas' English language propaganda efforts.Dalloul and Rouk deny knowing each other, despite working for the same website on complementary content, and despite Rouk posting prayers and well wishes for his "dearest friend" Dalloul when the latter was injured several years ago.
Rouk also advocates for a boycott of Israeli media, and said he only agrees to co-operate with Israeli outlets if it channeled through the Memo office in London. Under his direction, members of Corbyn's support page were prohibited from posting any links to British tabloid papers the Daily Mail and the Sun, both of which have favoured the Conservatives in recent times.He has further promoted the so-called Freedom Flotillas to the Gaza strip which aimed at breaking Israeli security measures in the Mediterranean Sea. The flotillas were run by Viva Palestina, an organisation set up by disgraced former politician George Galloway, who was expelled from the Labour Party under previous leadership for antisemitism.Viva Palestina, which is registered in the UK, operates under instructions from Zaher Birawi, who has been identified by Israeli security as one of Hamas' top officials in the UK. A source in the Gaza Strip told TPS that Birawi runs all Hamas-UK relations, and that he is known to hold the "Corbyn-Hamas file".Another of the organisers of the flotilla is British-born Muslim convert Khadijah Hasssan, who moved to Gaza under the auspices of the Hamas Religious Scholars Association. She is a known Labour supporter, and is active in the BDS movement.
