Jeremy Corbyn has failed to directly criticise outgoing Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad, while taking aim at Israel over its presence north of the Golan Heights in his first Commons intervention on last weekend’s events.
In a question put to foreign secretary David Lammy, the former Labour leader spoke only of the Syrian people coming out of the horrors of “war, torture and imprisonment” and “many into asylum” without referencing the role of former Syrian president al-Assad in this scenario.
Corbyn, who has repeatedly faced allegations of being an “apologist” for Assad in his political career, then made a rather more direct criticism of Israel in the same intervention, calling for the IDF to “withdraw immediately from the area it illegally occupied over the last few days, just north of the already illegally occupied Golan Heights.”
The Islington North MP also raised concerns about the presence of Turkish troops in the region, calling for them to “leave” as well as the rights of the Kurdish people.
The Labour MP Kim Johnson, already facing condemnation over recent promotion of an event put on by the Isalamist advocacy group Cage, then also saw fit to only offer her own criticism of Israel as she rose to question the foreign secretary.
Johnson accused Israel of “seizing” territory in the Golan, and asked “what will happen if the Israelis decide it isn’t temporary” to remain there.
Earlier, having given a statement on the situation in Syria to MPs, Lammy had suggested Israel did have legitimate security concerns with the situation in Syria unclear, and in a country that had previously harboured ISIS terrorists.
He confirmed to Corbyn that in conversations with the Israeli foreign ministry, Lammy had been assured Israel’s recent advances in the north of the Golan were only “temporary.”
Corbyn has long sparked outrage with his calls for “negotiations for peace” and “a political settlement” in response to allegations of atrocities committed by the hated Assad regime in Syria.
He slammed “legally questionable” airstrikes by the UK in Syria, in line with his long-time support for the position of the Stop The War campaign group.
In response to the deaths of “hundreds of thousands of Syrians” Corbyn called for the UK government to “take a diplomatic lead to negotiate a ceasefire in the conflict” in 2018.
Progressive Britain’s Adam Langleben was among those to suggest the left had questions to answer of its earlier stance on Assad.
In a post on X he wrote:”The left have some serious questions to answer over all of this. From Labour to the hard left.
“We know the left see everything through the prism of opposing the US. But Labour also allowed this to happen as it has, when we opposed intervention, scuppering US involvement.
“Half a million dead, tens of thousands of political prisoners facing inprisonment, torture or execution. Millions of refugees.
“And over 10 years of growing regional instability led by Iran and Russia. Inaction can have consequences as damaging as taking action.
“The people’s of Syria, Lebanon and Israel that little bit safer today with Assad, Iran, Russia and Hezbollah all down and out.”
Speaking on Monday Lammy, who faced some heat over his own failure to back military intervention in Syria, branded Assad as the “rat of Damascus” who fled to Russia with his “tail between his legs”.
The Foreign Secretary said the government had resisted any calls to re-engage with Syria under Mr Assad’s rule as the former president was a “monster”.
He added:”“We said no because Assad was a dictator, whose sole interest was his wealth and his power. And we said no because Assad is a criminal who defied all laws and norms to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people.
“We said no because Assad is a butcher with the blood of countless innocents on his hands, and we said no because Assad was a drug dealer.”
Lammy also said: “Assad’s demise is not just a humiliation to him and his henchmen, it is a humiliation for Russia and Iran. Iran’s so-called axis of resistance is crumbling before our eyes.”
But he expressed caution over what Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule would mean for Syria in the future after it led the overthrow of the regime there.
The Government later confirmed it had paused Syrian asylum claims while it assessed the “current situation.”
