Twenty-nine Laborite Members of Parliament who claim to have “visited Israel and seen for ourselves” took issue with a report by the London Times’ foreign editor E.C. Hodgkin which alleged cruel and oppressive treatment by Israel of Arabs in the occupied territories. Their letter, published in the Times, was apparently addressed to fellow MPs and others who have written in defense of Mr. Hodgkin against the storm of protest that his article aroused from Israel sympathizers.
“Many of us have visited Israel recently and have spent considerable time in the occupied territories, have conversed with Arabs there and have been given every opportunity of seeing the conditions that exist there,” the legislators stated. “Nowhere did we find anything remotely resembling the state of affairs described by Mr. Hodgkin. We are astounded that our colleagues who have not visited the occupied territories and have no personal experience should rush into print and accept these allegations as true. We suggest that our colleagues…should, before condemnation visit Israel and judge for themselves.”
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