British Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn sharply condemned the UK’s continued supply of weapons to Israel in a post on X on Monday.
“You can’t get much stronger than the International Court of Justice saying what’s going on are acts of genocide against the Palestinian people. You would have thought that a country that had that judgment against it would get a few sanctions opposed on it, wouldn’t you?”
He also questioned why, given Britain is signed up to the ICC, that the UK continued to supply weapons to Israel.
“If there is an arrest warrant out for the prime minister of a country, you would have thought there would at least be a reconfiguration of diplomatic relations with that country,” he added.
He asked the UK to “abide by international law.”
The BBC announced earlier in August that Corbyn is in talks with four other independent MPs to form a new pro-Palestine group, which would increase their sway in Parliament. The MPs are Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Iqbal Mohamed, all of whom platformed their support for Palestinians as an integral part of their campaign.
The BBC quoted Corbyn as saying that he “was elected by my constituents to speak out against the genocide in Gaza” and wanted to create the group as “more MPs who are prepared to stand up for international law, defend refugees and oppose the far-right.”
Corbyn's history of antisemitism, anti-Israel stances
Corbyn, the former head of the Labour Party, was suspended for antisemitism and was investigated for connections to terrorist organizations. He famously called Hamas and Hezbollah friends in Parliament in 2009. He refused to define Hamas as a terrorist organization in a televised interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV following the October 7 massacre.
When he became head of the Labour Party, many Jews who traditionally voted Labour left the party. In the 2019 election, according to poller Survation, only 11% of Jews voted Labor. However, in the 2024 elections, nearly half of Jews said they would vote for Labour, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
He was elected as an independent MP for Islington North in the July general election, following a campaign that heavily featured his pro-Palestine advocacy. After the results, he tweeted, “Our message to the government: we are a movement for Palestine, and we are never, ever going away.”Corbyn: UK not abiding by int’l law, supplying arms to ‘genocidal’ country