New day, new smear - Don't-appreciate-irony-gate

The sun has come up, so I suppose that must mean another dimly conceived attempt to drum up a scandal about Jeremy Corbyn.

Here it is:

Jeremy Corbyn claimed that Zionists in Britain “don’t understand English irony” in a speech that appeared to portray Jews as an alien culture. 

Luciana Berger, a Jewish Labour MP, said that the Labour leader’s comments, caught on camera at a pro-Palestinian event, were “inexcusable” and made her feel unwelcome in the party.

Link 

And here is the video of him making these 'inexcusable' remarks:

First, he's clearly talking about some very specific comments made by specific people who were present at a meeting.  We don't know how they acted, so condemning Corbyn when this important information is lacking is grotesque.  I might even say, it's inexcusable.

Also, Corbyn's point was that the people who go on about the "immemorial rights of Jews" to the territory of Mandate Palestine, the "Rights of Jews to a homeland," the right "self-determination" and the "Rights of Israel to defend itself" are attacking someone else for suggesting that Palestinians (the people who were living in Mandate Palestine before Israel and were dispossessed by the creation of Israel) might actually have these rights as well.

As he said, they don't want to study the history of the area - as far as they are concerned, it started in 1948, or possibly even on 1967.  And they don't get the absurdity of their position, demanding the suppression of one group's rights for the advantage of another's.  I'd go further than Corbyn.  I wouldn't call it a failure to appreciate irony.  I'd call it hypocrisy.

Corbyn, Black September et cetera - I was, of course, completely wrong

Just a heads up that yesterday's post, suggesting that the images of Corbyn waltzing about a Tunisian cemetery with wreaths were taken at different times and locations is completely wrong.

While the people in the images do change, and the chain does seem to disappear from one shot to the next, if you look at the background it is clearly the same place; and studying the dents and marks on the underside of the canopy confirms it.

I shall leave that post up as part of the historical record, in which I am sure my ramblings will be very significant.

But, yeah, I called that one completely wrong.

Which takes us back to the question posed in my first post on this: whose grave are they actually honouring?

More on Corbyn, Tunis, Black September et cetera

Look very closely at this image:

Corbyn holding a wreath, right?

Note the people standing around him, particularly the two dapper chaps in suits with blue ties. Note the chain on the right, attached to the black post. Note the Check Shirt Dude, one arm draped nonchalantly across the chain that so clearly separates him from the graves or memorial.

Now look at the next image:

Corbyn helping lay a wreath, presumably (as the Mail would like us to think) on the grave of a Black September murdering terrorist.

Again, note the people - the two dapper chaps are still there, and they are joined by Pink Tie Guy and a Mystery Woman. Note the chain.

Now look at this image:

Corbyn making a show of joining in the gestures of respect. This is obviously taken very shortly after the first two images and is in the same location - Pink Tie Guy, the Mystery Woman and the two dapper chaps in the suit appear are still there (the first two just visible on the left) and you can still see the chain attached to the black post - or at least the brass coloured clip that attaches it to the post.

Conclusion - these pictures were all taken in one location and over a very short period of time.

Now look at this one, the one that places him, supposedly, at the grave of a Black September killer (never mind the Mail doesn't identify whose grave it is):

Note how the cast has changed. Pink Tie Guy and Mystery Woman have disappeared. The two Dapper Chaps are still there, but one of them appears to have found time to do up his suit jacked - in previous photos it was open, revealing his splendid belly to the world. Also note that Check Shirt Dude is still there, but the chain that was so obviously apparent, right in front of him, has disappeared.

That would suggest this last photo was taken at a different time and in a different part of the cemetery.

So the implication that Corbyn assisted in laying a wreath on the graves of Black September murderers and joined in a prayer at their graves is very shaky indeed. It looks like he laid a wreath - presumably at the memorial for those killed in the 1985 raid as he as always said - joined in the prayer there, then followed others over to see what was happening at the other grave. Again, confirming what he wrote in 2014. A main wreath was laid at the memorial for the victims of 1985, and he was part of that. Other wreaths were laid on other graves and he wasn't part of that.

But there is no evidence he laid a wreath at the Black September graves, or honoured them. Look at his posture in that final photo - hands in pockets, slouched, typical Corbyn. He isn't honouring nothing there. He's probably wondering if his allotment is being well looked after in his absence.

Corbyn, Black September Graves et cetera

During the election campaign last year a story surfaced briefly about Jermey Corbyn visiting a cemetery in Tunisia and taking part in a ceremony to honour 'Palestinian martyrs'.  The controversial aspect was that - buried in the same cemetery were the bodies of some of the terrorists who kidnapped, tortured and murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Corbyn described the event like this:

October 1 is a poignant day in Palestinian history and is commemorated in Tunisia. This year was no exception as a group of us gathered at the hillside cemetery overlooking the villages and walked down to the town and the beautiful blue Mediterranean where in 1986 Israeli jets screamed in to bomb the relocated headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, causing many deaths.

The offices and buildings were destroyed and once again Palestinians, in exile, became the victims.

The PLO had relocated after the massacres at Sabra and Shatilla in 1982 when Israeli troops oversaw massacres by Phalangist militias at the huge refugee camps in Lebanon, home to Palestinians driven from their homes in 1948.

After wreaths were laid at the graves of those who died on that day and on the graves of others killed by Mossad agents in Paris in 1991, we moved to the poignant statue in the main avenue of the coastal town of Ben Arous, which was festooned with Palestinian and Tunisian flags.

The story was unearthed in 2017 during the election campaign and repeated with varying degrees of speculation, conjecture and hyperbole.  Guido found the bottom of the barrel, pretty quickly, claiming "Corbyn honoured Munich massacre terrorist", a claim which is not borne out by any of the facts presented in the piece that followed.  In particular, he attempts to conflate the unidentified persons described as being "killed by Mossad agents in Paris in 1991" with Atef Bseiso, one of the planners of the Munich murders.

Bseiso was killed, possibly by Mossad agents, in Paris.  But this happened in 1992, not 1991 and was a single killing, when Corbyn refers to 'others'.

Three members of Black September were killed by Mossad, in 1991, but not in Paris.  So it is hard to square Guido's interpretation with what Corbyn reported.  As Guido points out, there are no killings attributed to Mossad in 1992 in Paris.  So quite who Corbyn was referring to is unclear.  According to the Indie, The Times asked Corbyn if he meant Bseiso:

According to The Sunday Times, that was a reference to Atef Bseiso, a PLO agent who was involved in the 1972 attack. Mr Corbyn denied this was the case.

The story went away, quite quickly, and the election went about its business.

Now it has resurfaced.  The Mail apparently has obtained pictures and even went as far as to visit the cemetery.  The claim the pictures show Corbyn standing at the graves of the Black September murderers:

One picture places Mr Corbyn close to the grave of another terrorist, Atef Bseiso, intelligence chief of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Bseiso has also been linked to the Munich atrocity. Another image shows the Labour leader apparently joining in an Islamic prayer while by the graves.

Last night sources close to Mr Corbyn insisted he was at the service in 2014 to commemorate 47 Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike on a Tunisian PLO base in 1985.

But on a visit to the cemetery this week, the Daily Mail discovered that the monument to the air strike victims is 15 yards from where Mr Corbyn is pictured – and in a different part of the complex.

Instead he was in front of a plaque that lies beside the graves of Black September members.

On first glance, the pictures bear out the Mail's implication (never directly stated) that Corbyn was taking part in a ceremony honouring Bseiso, Salah Khalaf, Fakhri al-Omari and Hayel Abdel-Hamid, who are all buried in that part of the cemetery.

But look more closely.

Here are the pictures:

This image clearly identifies the graves occupied by the Munich murderers.  Note the plaque to the right, in front of another, slightly elevated tomb.  The occupant of this tomb is not identified by the Mail.

Now, look at the image of the wreath laying.  You'll see they are standing right in front of that plaque, which the Mails states is "honours three dead men: Salah Khalaf, who founded Black September; his key aide Fakhri al-Omari; and Hayel Abdel-Hamid, PLO chief of security."

Pretty damning, huh?

But look more closely, and read more carefully. First of all, the Mail slyly admits the plaque lies "lies beside the graves of Black September members," not in front of it; it is not claiming the grave behind the plaque belongs to a Black September member.

And (important bit) the photograph clearly shows the wreath has been placed on the tomb. You can see it in the bottom right corner of the photograph.

When you are placing a wreath at a monument, you do not place it BEHIND the monument. You put it in fron of it. This would clearly indicate they were honouring the person or persons in the grave, not the persons commemorated in the plaque; and the grave they appear to be honouring is not identified as a Black September grave. This is all from the photographs the Mail provided and - crucially - the information they chose to withhold.

Now, if that grave contained the body of some heinous individual, would the Mail would have coyly kept that information to themselves? If they knew who was in it and if that person was a rotter they would have told us.

The Mail state they visited the cemetery to confirm the details of the story. You'd think they wold check who was interred in the grave the group was specifically honouring.

So either they didn't bother to find out (poor journalism, verging on the deliberately dishonest) or the person who was being honoured is someone not too repugnant, and the Mail opted to trick casual readers into thinking the ceremony was honouring the Black September murderers.