Boris Johnson’s high profile visit to the West Bank was unravelling today after organisers cancelled a string of meetings in protest at his pro-Israel comments.
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Speaking to reporters, Boris acknowledged a few people had taken “offence” at what he said and had been “whipped up on social media”.
“The Mayor met for an hour with Prime Minister Hamdallah”.
Ryvka Barnard, Senior Militarism and Security Campaigner at War on Want, said: “Is it any wonder Palestinians have denied Boris Johnson a platform, when he continues to deny the brutality of Israeli Apartheid and the global movement for Palestinian rights”.
The charity’s spokesman said Mr Johnson’s “inaccurate, misinformed, and disrespectful statement” regarding the boycott movement had been the reason his visit was blocked.
The Palestinian youth group retracted its invite to Johnson, saying his statements reflected a stance which “failed to acknowledge” Palestinian existence.
Johnson also planned to meet with Palestinian leaders on this trip.
Mr Johnson is hoping to improve trade links between the capital and the Middle East and appealed to his audiences in Tel Aviv by claiming a trade embargo on Israel would be “completely crazy”, adding it is only supported in the United Kingdom by “corduroy-jacketed, snaggletoothed, lefty academics”.
“As Palestinians and supporters of BDS, we can not in good conscience host Johnson, as a person who denounces the worldwide BDS movement and prioritises the feelings of wearers of “corduroy jackets” over an entire nation under occupation”.
It comes after Mr Johnson received a warm welcome on the first two days of his visit in Israel, where he set out his opposition to a boycott and praised the country as the “only democracy” in the region. “This is a very, very small minority in our country who are calling for this”.
The spokesperson added: “He recognises the extreme difficulties experienced by the Palestinians living under occupation”. While pleased to be back in the West Bank, he observed: “It seems as though there’s a few anxiety about a few meetings – they’re anxious about a few of the safety aspects”.
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said the failure to visit Palestinian communities would mean he would not have the chance to learn about the effects of Israel’s occupation.
“There’s a few stuff going on on social media apparently, so rather depressingly we can’t do the youth forum and one other meeting”.
Reporters were later informed that Palestine Women’s Business Forum meeting also off. Asked about the security threat, Johnson said: “The reality is we were determined to come here even though it’s quite a hard time at the moment and there’s a lot of tension”.
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Mr Johnson did not retract or apologise his words.
