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Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of having \u201cgravely misrepresented\u201d a meeting with Muslim leaders in south Wales over the weekend, amid anger among some in Labour over the party leader\u2019s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict.<\/p>\n
In a statement published late on Tuesday by the South Wales Islamic Centre, it apologised for the \u201churt and confusion\u201d caused by hosting Sir Keir.<\/p>\n
The Labour leader visited the centre on Sunday, posting images showing him meeting figures from the local community.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: \u201cI was grateful to hear from the Muslim community of the South Wales Islamic Centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI repeated our calls for all hostages to be released, more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for the water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on the two state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he was \u201cquestioned by members\u201d and \u201cmade clear it is not and has never been my view that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines. International law must be followed\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir has faced a backlash from Muslim and left-wing members over previous comments on Israel, after he appeared to suggest in an LBC interview that \u201cIsrael does have that right\u201d to cut off power and water.<\/p>\n
The Labour leader has since denied he ever backed Israel withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza and has sought to clarify his remarks about the Israeli-imposed siege of Gaza, which has sparked concerns about a humanitarian crisis in the region.<\/p>\n
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been criticised by the South Wales Islamic Centre <\/p>\n
(PA Wire)<\/p>\n
The centre\u2019s statement said: \u201cWe wish to stress Keir Starmer\u2019s social media post and images gravely misrepresented our congregants and the nature of the visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe affirm, unequivocally, the need for a free Palestine. We implore all those with political authority to uphold international law, and to end the occupation of Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The centre said it wanted to \u201capologise for the hurt and confusion that our hosting of this visit has caused\u201d.<\/p>\n
It added: \u201cOur intention was to raise the concerns of the Muslim community around the suffering of Palestinians, and so we hosted an event initially with local representatives on the issue, and the knowledge of Keir Starmer\u2019s attendance was given at short notice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a robust and frank conversation which reflected the sentiments Muslim communities are feeling at this time. Members of the community directly challenged Keir on his statements made on the Israeli government\u2019s right to cut food, electricity and water to Gaza, warranting war crimes as well as his failure to call for an immediate ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of having \u201cgravely misrepresented\u201d a meeting with Muslim leaders in south Wales over the weekend, amid anger among some in Labour over the party leader\u2019s position on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n