A 39 year old man was arrested for beating up notorious anti-Israel MP George Galloway yesterday.
The Bradford West MP was released from hospital on Saturday morning having suffered a suspected broken jaw and rib as well as facial bruising. Neil Masterson, 39, has been accused of shouting about the Holocaust and attacking him.The attack, it is claimed, was related to comments Galloway recently made about the conflict in Gaza. The MP was posing for pictures in Notting Hill in west London when the attack took place. He was treated overnight at St Mary’s hospital.Police said he was charged with the assault an Galloway and another man. A spokesman said Masterson was due to appear at Hammersmith magistrates court on Monday.
The suspect is not Jewish.
A few weeks ago Galloway declared Bradford to be an “Israel-free zone.”
Earlier this month the left-wing Respect MP said that goods, academics, and tourists from the “illegal, barbarous, savage state that calls itself Israel” were not welcome in Bradford because of the country’s actions in Gaza.”We don’t want any Israeli goods, we don’t want any Israeli services, we don’t want any Israeli academics coming to the university or the college,” he added.Galloway’s comments have already attracted attention from the police, and on Monday, in response to the MP’s statement, Israeli ambassador Daniel Taub made a special trip to the Yorkshire town.
Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Daniel Taub, responded by travelling to Bradford in defiance.
In 2010 Galloway donated money directly to Hamas.
The pro-Israel world, despite its distaste for Galloway, has not endorsed the violence against him.
Galloway has a long history of anti-Israel, if not anti-Semitic agitation. In addition he has had a soft spot for some the the most brutal dictators of our time. Some of it has been covered at Legal Insurrection going back to 2009. An anti-Israel columnist at The Guardian cited Galloway as an example of someone who crossed the line. Galloway supports the BDS movement. He mourned the death of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Last year Galloway stormed out of a debate when he found out that his opponent was Israeli.
[Photo: gloucester2gaza / Flickr ]
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