In his first TV interview after release from hospital, British MP George Galloway told RT he is surprised by the lack of condemnation from other UK politicians of the brutal attack on him. The assault by a pro-Israeli man left Galloway in much pain.
Galloway, 60, was brutally beaten in Notting Hill, London last Friday
allegedly for his views on the conflict in Gaza.
“It’s very painful to walk, to move, even to speak because I
sustained a dislocated jaw, quite bad head injuries, and very
badly cracked ribs,” he said.
He said the attack occurred during broad daylight, when he was in
the street around 19:30.
“Unlucky for me, there weren’t many people around. Though,
luckily for me as it turned out none of my small children were
there to witness what happened next,” he said. “I was
posing for a picture with two Moroccan gentlemen who have a
business in the street. And whilst I was posing for that picture,
out of nowhere – dressed in an Israeli Defense Force shirt,
complete with logo – came a man charging at me, cursing and
swearing and shouting support for Israel and opposition to my
views on Israel. Then a torrent of punches and kicks [followed] –
which is admitted in court today though he has pled not guilty to
the charge that it was religiously aggravated.”
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Following a hearing, the case has been passed on to a higher
court. “In any case, the Judge has referred it to much higher
court because his sentencing parole was not sufficient. The man
has been denied bail, so he will spend some weeks in prison
before this matter comes back to court.”
Galloway described the attacker as “a pro-Israel
fanatic.”“His Facebook that morning contained his words
that he would like to cut my throat. A man who says he’d like to
cut your throat and then dresses for the occasion in an Israel
Defense Force t-shirt and ends up on the street near where you
live, has probably a serious intention to do you harm.”
“It’s unprecedented in recent times. Britain is not really the kind of country where lawmakers, legislators, MPs are savagely attacked in this way – certainly not when they are six times elected, 27 years in parliament and having just turned 60.”
‘If this can happen to Galloway, it can happen to anybody’
The incident has largely been ignored by UK’s senior politicians.
Peter Oborne, a Conservative writer for the Conservative daily
The Telegraph asked in his article on Monday why no senior
politicians had condemned the assault on Galloway, the MP noted.
“It seems very strange. They are always telling us how much
they hate violence and terrorism, how much they believe in the
rule of law, free speech and democracy. But when it came to the
attack on me their lips were sealed. This conservative columnist
was making a point which is obvious: if this can happen to
Galloway, it can happen to anybody.”
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Known for his harsh anti-Israeli stance, in early August Galloway
went as far as to declare his constituency an “Israel-free
zone.” The MP urged people not to buy Israeli goods or
services and even to reject tourists.
Galloway pointed out that he separates the people from the
regime. “Israel has nothing to do with Judaism. Many Jews are
against what Israel is doing and most of the people supporting
what Israel is doing are not Jews,” he said.
“The word Jew never crossed my lips, would never cross my
lips. I don’t have a racist bone in my body. Soviet Union was a
political construct, apartheid South Africa was a political
construct, the Zionist apartheid state of Israel is a political
construct. It has nothing to do with hating people, still less
hating a religion.”
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Palestinian people have moral legal and moral right to resist
Israeli occupation, he added.
“Palestinian resistance has for almost 70 years been trying
to restore their country to the map. It was wiped off the map and
the Palestinian people scattered to the four corners of the
Earth. Nobody would accept that. If foreigners come and steal
your country, wipe it off the map and take your house and drive
you out, you are going to struggle to return.”