A Conservative member of Parliament said he would continue to urge the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in London despite a rebuff from Home Secretary Kenneth Baker.
Sir Rhodes Boyson, a former government minister, said he has complained a number of times on behalf of constituents who object to the PLO’s presence in Kensington.
Most recently, he wrote Baker about the fears expressed by a woman that the PLO poses an immediate security threat since it has aligned itself with Iraq.
Rhodes told a rally held Sunday at the Finchley Synagogue to show solidarity with Israel that the home secretary said the PLO “enjoys no official status, privilege or immunities, but is free, like any other organization, to set up an office in this country as long as it operates within the law.”
However, Rhodes reported, the home secretary made clear that if a member of the PLO staff engaged in criminal activity, he would inform the police and would use his powers under the Immigration Act “if there are good grounds for believing that individuals working at the PLO office may constitute a threat to national security.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
