Mail’s ‘Corbyn wreath’ front page is a desperate lie

This image is from the Skwawkbox article about the Mail‘s fairy story – and is absolutely right: This is fake news.

How desperate are the writers, editors and publisher of the Daily Mail to discredit Jeremy Corbyn?

Desperate enough to fabricate a story about him laying a wreath at the graves of terrorists, it seems.

The paper has resurrected a smear story from last year with new photos of the location, and is trying to say that the official version of events is a lie – and that Mr Corbyn was commemorating terrorists.

The fairy story runs as follows: “A memorial wreath in his hand, Jeremy Corbyn stands feet from the graves of terror leaders linked to the Munich Massacre.

“The picture was among a number taken during a service to honour Palestinian ‘martyrs’.

“Buried in the cemetery in Tunisa are members of Black September, the terror group which massacred 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.

“One picture places Mr Corbyn close to the grave of another terrorist, Atef Bseiso, intelligence chief of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

“Bseiso has also been linked to the Munich atrocity. Another image shows the Labour leader apparently joining in an Islamic prayer while by the graves.

“Last night sources close to Mr Corbyn insisted he was at the service in 2014 to commemorate 47 Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike on a Tunisian PLO base in 1985.

“But on a visit to the cemetery this week, the Daily Mail discovered that the monument to the air strike victims is 15 yards from where Mr Corbyn is pictured – and in a different part of the complex.

“Instead he was in front of a plaque that lies beside the graves of Black September members.”

This means nothing.

Mr Corbyn was in a cemetery. Lots of people are buried in cemeteries. Not all of them are likely to have led wonderful lives.

Being a member of the press, This Writer has attended many photocalls, and you know what?

Not all of them happened exactly on the spot of the events they were intended to depict.

There are all sorts of reasons for it. There might be more people than would fit in the space where the picture should be taken, so they move a little way along. Perhaps some people aren’t allowed in that space, for reasons particular to the place and culture. I’m sure you can think of a few possible reasons yourself.

So the Mail‘s circumstantial suggestions prove nothing.

Alternatively, we may consider the Labour leader’s own version of events – that he was laying a wreath to commemorate 47 Tunisians and Palestinians killed by Israel in an air attack on Tunisia in 1985,and that this was nothing whatsoever to do with Munich Olympics.

As this is a story from last year, we have Mr Corbyn’s own words on the subject: “I was in Tunisia at a Palestinian conference and I spoke at that Palestinian conference and I laid a wreath to all those that had died in the air attack that took place on Tunis, on the headquarters of the Palestinian organisations there.

“And I was accompanied by very many other people who were at a conference searching for peace.”

This should be easy to corroborate. I wonder why the Mail does not appear to have bothered. Is it perhaps because a desperate lie is more acceptable to that rag’s staff than an uncomfortable truth?

12 thoughts on “Mail’s ‘Corbyn wreath’ front page is a desperate lie

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      I don’t think so. I reckon the Mail actually sent someone to the location. My issue is with the conclusions its writer draws.

  1. Zippi

    I saw this on, I think, the from page of The Sun; no, I don’t read that muck, I’m an £.F.C. supporter! This suggests that the story goes beyond The Mail.

  2. trev

    I go into Tesco (*), put all the Daily Mails in a trolley, wheel it over to the toilet roll section and put them on the shelf with ‘bargain toilet paper’. Done that more than once.

    (*Other supermarkets are also available.)

  3. Colin Clarke

    It never fails to amaze me how people buy this right wing rubbish. This is where the tories “Freedom of the press is sacrosanct.” With these easily staged false reports it becomes easy to damage a persons career and reputation. If it is ok for a right wing rag to lie, then surely we all have that right. Is it then OK if I write one lie a day about all the Tories?

      1. Mike Sivier Post author

        Where is the proof then? Were you there?
        If not, then you are suffering from confirmation bias; you want to believe this, despite the lack of evidence.

      2. Mike Sivier Post author

        Where is the proof then? Were you there?
        If not, then you are suffering from confirmation bias; you want to believe this, despite the lack of evidence.

    1. Zippi

      I don’t know how old you are but I’m from the generation that was taught not believe everything that we read in the papers. £eveson…

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