George Galloway investigated by police for saying Bradford an 'Israel-free zone'
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Version 0 of 1. Police are investigating comments made by George Galloway during a speech in which he said Bradford had been declared an "Israel-free zone". The Respect MP told a meeting of party activists in Leeds on Saturday that Israeli tourists were not welcome in Bradford. West Yorkshire police said they had received two complaints and were investigating the Bradford West MP's comments. A video of the meeting posted online showed Galloway saying: "We have declared Bradford an Israel-free zone. "We don't want any Israeli goods, we don't want any Israeli services, we don't want any Israeli academics coming to the university or the college, we don't even want any Israeli tourists to come to Bradford, even if any of them had thought of doing so. "We reject this illegal, barbarous, savage state that calls itself Israel. And you have to do the same." Earlier in the speech, he sought to distinguish between the Israeli state and the world's Jewish population. Ron McKay, a spokesman for Galloway, said the remarks were "quite reasonable". He said the MP stood by them and added: "The reason he made them is because there's mass carnage and mass slaughter going on against the people of Gaza." McKay said the remarks were an extension of boycotts that were already happening in Britain. "Direct action helped in the struggle against apartheid," the BBC quoted him as saying. A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: "We have received two separate complaints about comments attributed to George Galloway MP during a speech he gave at a public meeting in Leeds on 2 August 2014. We are currently investigating the complaints." The investigation comes as it emerged that a London theatre has ended its eight-year association with a Jewish film festival over the Gaza war. The Tricycle theatre said it would not host this year's Jewish Film Festival while it was partially funded by the Israeli embassy. |