A Scottish newspaper has been accused of attempting to “demonise” a newly elected Labour MP because he accepted a paid trip to Israel and the West Bank from the Labour group Friends of Israel.
Under the sensational headline “Zionist group backs bill for Labour MP’s Israel trip” The National The newspaper questioned how Graeme Downie, the new MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, “could claim to represent the interests of his constituents while at the same time being actively courted by pro-Israel lobbies”.
The newspaper, known for its pro-SNP stance, focused on Downie after he duly declared the LFI trip, which cost a total of £2,200 and included meetings with Israeli and Palestinian politicians, academics, activists and diplomats in September 2023.
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A Downie spokesperson confirmed: “The trip took place in September 2023 and included a visit to Israel and a UNWRA refugee camp in the West Bank, where we were able to meet with Palestinian Authority politicians, third sector groups and charities, as well as Israeli government officials.
“All statements were made in accordance with parliamentary rules to ensure transparency.”
The article also includes a quote from Gerry Coutts of the notorious campaign group Scottish Friends of Palestine.
Coutts claimed: “How can Graeme Downie claim to represent the interests of his electorate while he is being actively courted by pro-Israel lobbies?
“He accepted a fully funded trip to meet with Israeli officials, further calling into question his integrity and impartiality with regard to Israel, the world’s longest illegal occupation, a well-documented apartheid regime…
“The Labour Party has long supported Israel’s colonisation of Palestine. LFI has existed since the 1950s and does not disclose where it gets its funding from, but has close ties to the Israeli state.
“What we see here is a foreign state grooming politicians early in their careers to represent its interests.”
The National’s online version of Thursday’s report was full of openly anti-Semitic comments about the Labour Party being funded by “a Jewish businessman” and about LFI being “funded by the generosity of members of the Jewish community”.
A Labour source told Jewish News after reading the National’s front-page article: “It is deeply despicable that the National is trying to demonise a new MP for travelling to Israel to learn more about the country and the conflict.
“On all LFI trips we have time to get to know Palestinian voices and hear their perspective and the Israeli perspective. It is extremely important that politicians travel to the Middle East, see the situation first hand and hear the opinions of both Israelis and Palestinians.”
A second Labour source added: “It looks like the editor of The National has gone down the rabbit hole of Asa Winstanley conspiracy theories.”
In several articles on X, the newspaper was also accused of trying to “stir up hatred”.
Parliament’s newly published Register of Members’ Interests provides MPs with the opportunity to properly declare all paid overseas trips taken in recent months. This includes trips offered to MPs by various groups including LFI, Labour Friends of Taiwan, Labour Friends of Bangladesh, Labour Friends of Ukraine and Labour Friends of India.
But in recent days, notorious anti-Israel publications such as Declassified UK have focused solely on the trips to Israel paid for by the LFI group after the new MPs had duly declared their foreign visits.
Declassified UK wrote on August 27: “Twelve successful Labour candidates and three Conservatives travelled to Israel with these organisations in the year before the UK general election.
“The total cost of the trips was over £30,000. Some of them took place in the midst of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and were described as ‘solidarity missions’.”
The media then named all MPs who had declared their trips to Israel with LFI, including Downie from the Scottish Labour Party.
Jewish News has reviewed the latest register of members’ interests, which clearly shows that parliamentarians accept paid trips to numerous foreign countries, including meetings with Chinese politicians paid for by the Labour Friends of Taiwan.
The National has been asked for comment on the front-page report.