Media failing to cover trauma of people in Israel, Lib Dem conference event told

Israeli politician Shelly Tal Meron appeared as a guest speaker at the Liberal Democrats Friends of Israel event at the party’s annual conference, where she claimed the international media is “not speaking about what is happening” in her country.

Meron, a member of the opposition Yesh Atid party, Israel’s sister party to the Liberal Democrats, appeared at LDFI’s event last Sunday at the conference in Bournemouth, where she took part in a Q&A session with the group’s honorary chair Gavin Stollar.

Discussing media coverage of the Gaza conflict, and the control Hamas still exerts over it, the Israeli MK said: “The international media is speaking about Gaza, but they’re not speaking about what is happening in Israel.”

“People run to air raid shelters every day… we’re a traumatised nation.”

In an interview with Times Radio, which was also conducted at the Lib Dem conference, Meron expressed concern at the pro-Palestine marches in the UK, which she said included “horrific” chants calling for Israel’s destruction.

“That is something that needs to be stopped,” she added. “You know, I come from a democratic country, I’m all for protests, but when it comes with incitement and calls for violence – that’s where you draw the line.”

Speaking at the LDFI event, Meron said school textbooks in Gaza schools run by UNRWA, the UN’s agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, “teach to hate Jews”.

Also speaking at the fringe event was Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, who  stressed “we want the hostages back”  as well as backing  “massive aid into Gaza”.

The event took place ahead of Lib Dem leader Ed Davey’s speech in the main conference hall on Tuesday.

When he spoke to the party faithful, Davey was applauded as he again said, “What is unfolding in Gaza is a genocide. And the United Kingdom must do all it can to make Netanyahu stop.”

Davey said he was speaking out “as a friend of Israel” and “knowing that his government’s actions do not represent the Israeli people”.

He also made a point of condemning antisemitism and labelled Hamas a “genocidal” organisation.

The previous night had seen Davey speak at a reception co-hosted by the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine (LDFP) and the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), attended by several MPs and peers.

He called the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state a “small step” in the right direction. At another fringe event, Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, urged the party to make sure every council under its control “commits to divesting funds in pensions schemes”.