Rewarding terrorism - plus ca change

It’s a disfiguring but consistent feature of successive British Governments - they like to reward terrorism. This is all too evident today in Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to meet PA leader Mahmoud Abbas amid a deadly Jerusalem attack. The attack killed six and injured eight, with Hamas praising the gunmen, highlighting ongoing violence tied to Abbas’s leadership.

It is a matter of observable record that Abbas’s Palestinian Authority has a documented history of funding terrorism, including payments to families of terrorists. Kill a Jew, get a bonus. Starmer’s mad push for Palestinian state recognition ignores Israel’s rejection, with Netanyahu calling it a reward for Hamas’s October 7 assault that killed 1,200. Why does Starmer hate Israel so much? Might it be to do with all those muslim votes he needs? Heaven forbid!

The there is Abbas’s abject refusal to condemn the Jerusalem attack outright, despite a vague statement from his office. This undermines any credibility he has as a peace partner. The UK’s conditional recognition plan of Palestine, set for later this month, clashes with U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s warning of “disastrous consequences”. Furthermore Starmer’s foreign policy risks alienating allies like the U.S., which blocked Abbas’s UN travel on August 30, 2025, citing extremism concerns. Is Starmer saying the US is wrong or is he hoping he will get away with his double dealing?

Then there is the other elephant in the room; Starmer’s refusal to address domestic issues like UK knife crime, up 20% in 2025, while focusing on Middle East policy. Many may share the view that Starmer’s approach emboldens and rewards Hamas, which controls Gaza and which has rejected ceasefire talks, per UN reports from August 2025.

In essence this meeting with Abbas is a victory for Hamas!