The Liberal Party conference by an overwhelming majority rejected a pro-Arab bid to allow the PLO London representative, Said Hammami, to address the annual Liberal Party assembly at this east coast resort.
Christopher Mayhew, the professional pro-Arab propagandist, who last year left Labor for the Liberals, unsuccessfully moved the motion arguing that “no one who supported terrorism should be allowed to address our meeting. The PLO has been wrongly accused of such terrorism. It is the splinter groups of the Palestinians that are to blame and the PLO in the form of Hammami is moderate.”
Ignoring cries of “What about the IRA?,” Mayhew said that “the case of Palestine is an exceptional one and their voice has been repressed for the past 25 years.” The motion was thrown out on the basis that the PLO was not a fraternal delegation. At this, the young Liberals walked out of the hall and Hammami addressed a small meeting outside.
Previously, Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe denounced the PLO as “the most appalling organization with blood on its hands,” saying he preferred the Kissinger-Sadat-Rabin approach. Liberal Party whip Cyril Smith said before the vote had been taken on the PLO appearance that if the young Liberals had managed to get Hammami onto the rostrum then he and other Liberal MPs would have walked out.
Tomorrow the Liberal Friends of Israel will hold a meeting which will be presided over by MP John Pardoe and addressed by Israel’s Consul General, Zeev Suffot.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
