John Prescott, former English The deputy prime minister, who has died at the age of 86, has a long history of solidarity. Palestine people.

The former unionist and merchant sailor was MP for Hull for 40 years and the longest-serving deputy prime minister in British history. He lived with Alzheimer’s disease in his final years, his family said.

Prescott, who served in Labour’s shadow cabinets in the 1980s and early 1990s, became Tony Blair’s deputy prime minister during Blair’s ten-year term in government from 1997 to 2007.

Prescott said he referred to Gaza as a “concentration camp” throughout his life. Israel He had driven Palestinians into poverty and claimed that Western powers were giving Israel special treatment.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Prescott as “the true giant of the Labor movement”.

But since leaving government, Prescott has repeatedly courted controversy for his passionate condemnations of the Israeli government and US President Donald Trump, a series of statements that would seem strikingly out of place in today’s Labor Party.

Prescott, a peer in the House of Lords in 2018 and a staunch supporter of then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn requested After the Israeli army opened fire on unarmed Palestinians from Gaza, “Donald Trump has the blood of many Palestinians on his tiny hands.” Great March of Return.

“There can be no doubt that Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem contributed to Israel’s military slaughter of unarmed men, women and children,” he said.

A one-time New Labor heavyweight accused Trump of obstructing the UN investigation into the massacre “motivated to please evangelical Christian and Jewish supporters who need to be re-elected”.

Prescott criticized even more harshly Board of Deputies of British Jews for blaming Hamas for the massacre: “If the House of Representatives truly wants to defend social justice, they should join the Labor Party and the rest of the world in publicly condemning this hateful act and supporting an independent investigation.”

Labor and antisemitism

Prescott the same year thrown away Anti-Corbyn Labor MPs claimed Labor under Corbyn’s leadership at the time was institutionally anti-Semitic, saying: “It’s time for Corbyn, Labor and Jewish campaigners to come together and agree a way forward.”

Labor MPs criticize Corbyn’s leadership hit his comments.

Later in 2019, Prescott triggered more outrage: reportedly saying that the Labor Party Alleged antisemitism crisis “It was about Israel”. He was accused of asking a Jewish journalist: “Is there anything you can do about Israel and its behavior?”

‘Israel brands Hamas as terrorists but serves as judge, jury and executioner in Gaza concentration camp’

-John Prescott

Four years ago, during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2014, Prescott in the name He said Gaza was a “concentration camp” and that Israelis should learn from the Holocaust.

Prescott said of Hamas: “Israel labels them terrorists, but they serve as judge, jury and executioners in the Gaza concentration camp…

“What happened to the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis is horrifying. But you would think that these atrocities would give Israelis a unique perspective and sense of empathy for the victims of the ghetto.”

Chairman of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council branded His remarks, accusing Prescott of “trivializing the Holocaust, the most painful memory in Jewish history,” were “deeply offensive.”

In his comments, Prescott argued that the international community was hypocritical for his failure to criticize Israel.

He claimed that another country that killed hundreds of children, as Israel did in Gaza in 2014, would be “condemned by the United Nations, the US and the UK, and branded as a pariah state.” Calls for regime change will be deafening.

“But these howls of protest have been silenced. The condemnation has been softened. Because this is Israel.”

He explained that Palestinians in Gaza “are held like prisoners behind walls and fences, unable to escape bombings, and Israel’s economic blockade has driven Palestinians into poverty.”

Neither Prescott’s former boss Blair nor the current Labor government have used such harsh words to criticize Israel, which insists it is a close ally despite imposing a partial arms ban on the country in September. to accept This week, it was claimed in court that Israel did not comply with international humanitarian law.

British Ambassador to Israel on Tuesday in question Britain is “ready to put its own aircraft and personnel at risk to defend Israel” against any Iranian attack.

invasion of Iraq

Prescott was deputy prime minister when Britain joined the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and supported the move.

But after leaving the government, the Labor man sent shockwaves through Westminster by saying the war was illegal.

He said in 2013: BBC He said the invasion “cannot be justified” and claimed that US President George W Bush supported it because he thought it would resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

‘I will live the rest of my life with the decision to go to war (in Iraq)’

– John Prescott

“You know Bush is very prepared to have a plan for Israel and Palestine, and he has promised,” Prescott said. “And that’s why this plan was important.”

Prescott following the publication of the Chilcot report into the occupation in 2016 in question Britain had broken international law.

“In 2004, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the Iraq war was illegal because its main aim was regime change. With great sadness and anger, I now believe that he was right.

The then Labor leader supported Corbyn’s decision to apologize for the war on behalf of the party, adding: “I will live with the decision to go to war and its devastating consequences for the rest of my life.”

Corbyn, now an independent MP, tribute to Prescott on Thursday.

“John was a huge figure and personality, from his maritime union days to the highest offices in government,” he said.

“I will be forever grateful for his personal and political support in the 2017 and 2019 elections. His endless warmth and iconic wit were beloved throughout the campaign.”