Former British MP George Galloway accepts Iranian award celebrating Hamas leader

After his Iran visit, Galloway traveled to Moscow for Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade, posting images on Friday from Red Square on his social media account.

By Jewish Breaking News

George Galloway’s decades-long reputation for political controversy has reached new heights after the former British MP accepted an Iranian honor commemorating a Hamas leader responsible for overseeing the October 7 attacks.

According to the Telegraph, Galloway accepted the “Martyr Ismail Haniyeh award” at an Iranian state media festival last week in recognition of his “outspoken defense of Palestine.”

During the ceremony, Galloway praised Iran “for their steadfastness in support of the Palestinian people,” adding: “The truth is when Palestine is finally free, Iran will be able to take its place in the panoply of heroes who made it possible.”

Haniyeh was the political head of Hamas during its October 7 massacre against Israel in 2023. He was killed in an assassination attributed to the Mossad in July 2024.

“I am honored to receive this award. I actually hold in my safe the passport of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh because when we arrived with one of our convoys to break the siege on Gaza [in 2009], he had promised me a Palestinian passport but they had run out of Palestinian passports. So he gave me his own personal passport and it is one of my most treasured possessions,” Galloway said in his acceptance speech.

Galloway has a long history of controversy regarding Israel. In 2014, he declared Bradford an “Israel-free zone,” a statement that earned him a criminal caution from West Yorkshire Police for inciting racial hatred.

In 2019, he was dismissed from TalkRadio following antisemitic comments.

After his Iran visit, Galloway traveled to Moscow for Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade, posting images Friday from Red Square on his social media account with his fourth wife Putri Gayatri Pertiwi.

He described the Russian military display as “moving, emotional, inspiring, humbling.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp slammed Galloway’s behavior as “appalling.”

“Hamas is a banned terrorist organization responsible for repressing its citizens in Gaza and murdering innocent civilians. It is despicable that Galloway has expressed admiration for a senior member of their leadership and that he has travelled to Iran, a state hostile to the West, to do so,” he said.

“The fact he has then topped it off with a visit to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, another murderous regime, says all you need to know about George Galloway.”