Labour councillor apologises after ‘We are all Palestinians’ speech

The deputy leader of Bury Council has apologised after he was heard claiming “in our hundreds,in our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians” in his speech at a local Gaza demo.

Footage of Labour councillor Tamoor Tariq speaking at the protest in Bury earlier this month seen by Jewish News showed him attempting to speak over a crowd whose chants included the inflammatory From The River To The Sea Palestine Will Be Free refrain.

During his speech Tariq, cabinet member for Adult Care, Health and Well-Being in the region also appeared to support claims that Israel had been involved in the illegal bombing of hospitals during the current Gaza conflict.

The demo, one of several pro-Palestine protests in Bury, took place ahead of last week’s humanitarian pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas.The area has both a large Muslim population along with sizable Jewish populations.

As Tariq attempted to speak over loud “ceasefire now!” calls for the crowd he said:”I am an anti-war activist ….and I’m here today speaking on behalf of all of you…”We are in our hundreds,, in our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.”

Earlier as he began to speak, the calls for “From The River To The Sea” were clearly audible from the crowd, but the councillor made no attempt to condemn the chant, widely associated with a call for the destruction of Israel.

Asked to comment, Cllr Tariq told Jewish News:”Right across the diverse communities of Bury, the recent conflict in the Middle East has had a profound effect on us. The terrorist actions of Hamas have caused untold misery on innocent Israelis and Palestinians. I condemn them and all those who want peace should condemn them.

“At the demonstration, I wanted to express that hope for peace. It is my view that to achieve peace, Israel must also engage in a ceasefire. I understand some people will disagree with that, that is their right, but I felt it was my duty to speak out given the scale of the humanitarian suffering in Gaza in recent weeks. Something I know many of my constituents have felt strongly about.

“The last thing I wanted to do by attending was make any resident upset or concerned. For that, I do want to sincerely apologise. It was not my intention.

“To be clear, any antisemitic chants from some of those in the crowd who attended, like “from the rivers to the sea” are not acceptable. I absolutely condemn them. It is the responsibility of all attendees to ensure they adhere to this. We have to be able to express our views, especially when there is disagreement, without fueling division or hate. There is no place for that in Bury.

“I remain committed to working together across all of our communities to ensure there is cohesion, respect and peace.”

Conservative Group leader Russell Bernstein told Jewish News:”Last Wednesday the Conservative group tabled a motion to Council on community cohesion.

“This was proposed as a result of Bury Labour Councillor’s, including the Deputy Leader of the Council, attending and speaking at a rally in support of Palestine.

“During that rally, anti semitic chants such as ‘from the river to the sea’ were heard and the Councillors in question engaged in anti-Israeli and highly inflammatory rhetoric.

“The rally was sponsored by a Council funded community group, a member of whom is the Council’s Deputy Lead Member for Communities. We believe this group acted significantly outside its remit.

“This rally was highly partisan in nature and caused a great deal of distress and concern, particularly to members of the Jewish community.

“The presence of Councillors, particularly the Deputy Leader and the Deputy Lead Member for Communities, is something that was of great concern to us all.”