LONDON (Middle East Eye) – Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has received an award for his efforts in helping the Palestinian people, as debates over boycotts on the Zionist regime continue in the party.
The Palestinian Forum in Britain awarded Corbyn its highest honor for his efforts in helping Palestine and Palestinian refugees.
The forum said it gave Corbyn the award in recognition of his “remarkable efforts in supporting the Palestinian issue and the Palestinian community in the UK”.
Addressing hundreds of people at the organization’s annual convention, Corbyn said he was “honored” to receive the award and told the audience that support for Palestine was strong in the Labour party.
“The Palestinian people have suffered like no other in that they have been under occupation for many decades, and many are living in refugee camps ever since 1948 in different countries around the region, but particularly in Lebanon,” said Corbyn.
“I think it is important to recognize an entity known as Palestine, a state of Palestine, and I was proud to present a manifesto in the election two years ago to the British people which included unconditional recognition of Palestine.”
Corbyn used his speech to remind Britain’s largest Palestinian diaspora group that Labour supported Palestinians despite the party leadership’s criticism of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the Zionist regime.
Earlier this year, Labour passed a motion at its annual conference, which backed an International Criminal Court investigation into the Zionist regime’s war crimes in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip.
The motion also recognized the Palestinian right of return and indirectly endorsed the Palestinian Civil Society’s call for boycott, divestment and sanctions on the occupying regime.