London’s Muslim Mayor Calls For Complete Ban On Hezbollah
(JTA) — London’s Muslim mayor wants Great Britain to make support for all factions of Hezbollah illegal.
Sadiq Khan said in a statement Thursday that he plans to request that the government outlaw support for the political wing of Hezbollah, the Jewish Chronicle reported. Support for the terrorist wing of the the Lebanon-based militia and Iranian ally is already banned in England.
“I share the concerns of the Jewish community about support shown for Hezbollah, which is an illegal, proscribed and antisemitic organization,” Khan said in his statement. “Antisemitism or hate crime of any kind has no place in our city, where we don’t just tolerate diversity, we respect and celebrate it.”
Khan’s statement came two weeks after marchers waved Hezbollah flags during the annual pro-Palestinian Al-Quds Day parade in London and blamed “Zionists” for the deadly Grenfell Tower fire a few days earlier. Political figures, mostly on the right, criticized Khan, a Labour Party member, for allowing the march to go on and called on him to support a ban.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomed Khan’s announcement.
Khan, who was elected in May 2016 as the first Muslim mayor of London, began his term by calling for anti-Semitism to be rooted out of the city and the Labour Party.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.