by Sabrina Miller and Nick Gutteridge, Telegraph
Nick Timothy calls appointment a ‘disgrace’ after images resurface from £927 fact-finding trip to Palestine with Jeremy Corbyn
Andy Burnham’s new Solicitor General has been accused of having shown “sympathy for Hamas” after pictures resurfaced of him meeting senior leaders within the group in Jerusalem.
Andy Slaughter, who will advise the Government on proscription decisions, was in Jerusalem from Nov 5 to Nov 9, 2010 alongside Jeremy Corbyn on a £927 fact-finding trip to the Palestinian territories sponsored by Friends of Al-Aqsa and Middle East Monitor (Memo).
A now-deleted report, published by Memo, reveals that the pair met “with both sides of the Palestinian political spectrum, including members and representatives of Fatah and Hamas”.
Photographs published in the Memo dossier include an image of Mr Slaughter and Mr Corbyn posed next to Mohammed Totah, Ahmed Attoun and Khaled Abu-Arafeh, who have known Hamas associations.
Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, described Mr Slaughter’s appointment as a “disgrace” and accused him of having shown “sympathy for Hamas”.
Mr Totah and Mr Attoun were elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council after running on a Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform ticket, while Abu-Arafeh was appointed Palestinian minister of Jerusalem affairs by the Hamas-led government.
Mr Attoun was arrested by the Israeli Defence Forces in Jerusalem and exiled to the West Bank in 2011.