In recent weeks, Labour’s Sadiq Khan has faced flak over his decision to share platforms with extremists. In a recent Evening Standard article, Khan was criticised for sharing a ‘platform with five Islamic extremists’ at an event organised by Friends of Al-Aqsa. At the 2004 conference titled ‘Palestine — the suffering still goes on’, both Khan and Jeremy Corbyn spoke alongside the event organiser’s founder Ismail Patel — who once said ‘Hamas is no terrorist organisation’ — as well as the Imam Suliman Gani — who says women are subservient to men — and Dr Daud Abdullah, who led a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day in 2005.
Defending his decision to appear at the Friends of Al-Aqsa event — where women entered through a separate entrance — Khan said he was speaking in his capacity as a human rights lawyer.
So, at a time when Khan appears to be attempting to put some clear water between himself and those at the event, Mr S was curious to discover that Corbyn’s director of strategy appears to have no such concerns. Steerpike’s mole reports that they spied Seumas Milne meeting with Friends of Al-Aqsa’s Ismail Patel last week at the St James’s Pret a Manger:
The pair are said to have enjoyed a tête-à-tête, with passers-by noting that the duo were on very friendly terms — both offering to buy the other lunch.
While a Labour spokesman declines to comment on the nature of the meeting, the Stop the War comrades would certainly have had a lot to chat about. Mr S imagines that they may have steered clear of certain topics, such as Friends of Al-Aqsa’s decision to publish work by Paul Eisen, whom the Guardian has called a Holocaust denier — and Patel’s defence of Raed Salah — the ‘blood libel’ cleric who Milne’s own boss once invited for ‘tea on the terrace’ at the House of Commons. However, the duo would have no doubt found safe ground when it comes to Khan’s London mayoral bid — or the Corbyn leadership in general.
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