Palestinian activist accuses Telegraph of incitement

Director of the Palestinian Affairs Centre Dr Ibrahim Hamami is taking legal action against the UK’s Telegraph newspaper and journalist Andrew Gilligan for publishing a “provocative and incriminating” article which contained “serious unfounded allegations” against him.

In a statement released yesterday Hamami said that he was surprised by the article published by the Telegraph on Saturday by Andrew Gilligan saying: “On Friday night October 16 while I was leaving my work in London, I was approached by Andrew Gilligan in a provocative and terrifying manner (..), then Gilligan wrote the article in the Telegraph newspaper the next day in which he made a number of serious and unfounded allegations against me.”

“These allegations have been picked up and used by a number of media outlets all over the world, causing untold damage to my reputation and putting me and my family in extreme danger,” he said.

Hamami explained that he complained to London’s Metropolitan Police and took steps to start legal proceedings against Gilligan and the Telegraph.

On Monday, Media24 reported that several pro-Israeli British newspapers have been leading a campaign against Hamami because of his support for new Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Both the Telegraph and Daily Mail newspapers published reports accusing Hamami of supporting terrorism and providing direct financial support to Corbyn.

Hamami is a Palestinian rights activist who is mostly known for his criticism of the Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.