Jeremy Corbyn: I was present at wreath-laying but don't think I was involved

Jeremy Corbyn has said he was present but not involved at a wreath-laying for individuals behind the group that carried out the Munich Olympic massacre, a partial admission that has led to a row with Israel’s prime minister.

The Labour leader had been asked if Palestinian leaders linked to the Black September terror group were also honoured at a memorial event he attended in Tunisia in 2014, at which victims of the 1985 Israeli airstrike in Tunis were remembered.

Corbyn said “a wreath was indeed laid” for “some of those who were killed in Paris in 1992” and added in response to a question: “I was present at that wreath-laying, I don’t think I was actually involved in it.”

He added: “I was there because I wanted to see a fitting memorial to everyone who has died in every terrorist incident everywhere because we have to end it. You cannot pursue peace by a cycle of violence; the only way you can pursue peace [is] by a cycle of dialogue.”

Corbyn was speaking two days after the Daily Mail unearthed pictures of the Labour MP holding a wreath at the event, near the graves of four Palestinian leaders believed to be connected to Black September, which carried out the terror attack on Israelis at the 1972 Olympics, in which 11 people died.

Labour previously said Corbyn had made clear he was paying his respects to the victims of a 1985 Israeli airstrike on Palestinian Liberation Organisation offices in Tunis. But Corbyn’s remarks, the first time he has spoken since the Mail story on Saturday, indicate that another wreath-laying took place at the memorial event.

A few hours after Corbyn spoke, Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement via his official Twitter account criticising the Labour leader. “The laying of a wreath by Jeremy Corbyn on the graves of the terrorist who perpetrated the Munich massacre and his comparison of Israel to the Nazis deserves unequivocal condemnation from everyone – left, right and everything in between,” the Israeli prime minister wrote.

Labour said Netanyahu’s criticism was “false” and Corbyn responded by attacking the Israeli prime minister for presiding over the deaths of scores of people in Gaza. A party spokesman said: “Jeremy did not lay any wreath at the graves of those alleged to have been linked to the Black September organisation or the 1972 Munich killings. He of course condemns that terrible attack, as he does the 1985 bombing.”

Shortly after, Corbyn, via his own Twitter feed, stepped up his response to Netanyahu. “What deserves unequivocal condemnation is the killing of over 160 Palestinian protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces since March, including dozens of children,” the Labour leader wrote.

The wreath-laying took place at an event at the Palestinian martyrs’ cemetery in Tunisia during a visit by Corbyn in 2014, a year before he became the party’s leader. There is a memorial to the victims of the 1985 bombing at the cemetery, although it is described as being 15 yards away from where Corbyn was pictured.

A couple of metres behind where Corbyn and the group of people are standing are four graves of senior members of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, thought to have been behind the Black September group. One of those belongs to Atef Bseiso, the PLO’s head of intelligence, who was assassinated outside a Paris hotel in 1992, and was allegedly killed by the Israeli secret service in revenge for the 1972 attack.

Another is the grave of Salah Khalaf, also known as Abu Iyad, who was the second in command in the PLO at the time of his death and is the most senior Palestinian figure buried in the Tunisian cemetery. Khalaf, who is believed to have been a key figure behind Black September, was killed in Tunis in 1991, alongside two other figures who are also buried in the graveyard.

The Labour MP Luciana Berger said Corbyn needed to apologise. “Being ‘present’ is the same as being involved. When I attend a memorial, my presence alone, whether I lay a wreath or not, demonstrates my association and support. There can also never be a ‘fitting memorial’ for terrorists. Where is the apology?” she said.

Over the weekend, Sajid Javid, the home secretary, called on Corbyn to resign over the issue as the Conservatives sought to capitalise on the row.

The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said Corbyn should apologise and accused the Labour leader of being “evasive”.

Marie van der Zyl told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “After days of being evasive, Jeremy Corbyn has now admitted attending a memorial event for the terrorist murders of unarmed athletes. How can you say he is not involved?

“In 1972, these are unarmed people who were attending the Olympics, they were savagely mutilated and murdered. There is no reason Jeremy Corbyn should not apologise to the widows and to the victims for this terrible massacre … He needs to also recognise that he can’t cavort with terrorists.”

It is not the first time the event in Tunisia has been the subject of controversy. In the run-up to the 2017 general election, Michael Fallon, then the defence secretary, said his presence there showed that Corbyn was “unfit” to be prime minister.

Fallon’s accusation was based on an account given by Corbyn about the trip in the Morning Star newspaper in October 2014. He wrote: “Wreaths were laid to mark the 1985 bombing of the PLO HQ and on the graves of others killed by Mossad agents in Paris in 1991.” He appears to have made a mistake about the dates because the only person killed in Paris was Bseiso in 1992.

The controversy emerges at a time when Labour is embroiled in a row about antisemitism and whether the party will adopt in full, with all its examples, the definition produced by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Corbyn said in the same interview that the Labour party would consult with the Jewish and Palestinian communities over whether to adopt one remaining example attached to the IHRA definition.

Striking a conciliatory tone, he said Labour had agreed to the IHRA definition and almost all of its 11 examples.

“The one example that we are discussing and consulting on is one that makes sure that you can discuss and debate the relations between Israel and Palestine, the future of the peace process and, yes, make criticisms of the actions of the Israeli government in the bombing of Gaza and other places,” Corbyn said.

“But you can never make those criticisms with antisemitic language or antisemitic intentions. And that is what we are absolutely clear on.”

His remarks confirmed that Labour had dropped its objections to three other examples attached to the IHRA code. The remaining sticking point is the example that states “claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour” is antisemitic – because of concerns in the party about hindering legitimate criticism of the creation of Israel.

The Labour MP Margaret Hodge said the only way “Jeremy Corbyn can put this issue to bed” is to “adopt the internationally agreed definition of antisemitism in full”. She said: “Until he does that, incidents such as his presence at the laying of wreaths at the graves of those responsible for torturing and murdering innocent Jewish Israeli athletes in Munich will continue to emerge.”