British politicians join veterans in condemning ‘Palestine Poppy’

British lawmakers have joined military veterans in criticizing a campaign selling Palestinian flag-colored poppies, accusing its organizers of politicizing a national symbol of remembrance.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative lawmaker David Reed condemned the initiative after GB News reported on Saturday that veterans viewed the “Palestine Poppy” as an attempt to hijack the traditional red poppy worn to remember Britain’s war dead.

“These people have no respect for our country,” Farage, member of Parliament for Clacton, wrote Sunday on X.

Reed, a former Royal Marine and Conservative defense spokesman, said on Saturday that remembrance should not become a vehicle for political activism.

“The greatest disrespect we can show to those who sacrificed their lives for us is to turn their remembrance into a political battleground. The fallen deserve our gratitude, not our agendas,” he wrote on X.

“This must not go unchallenged,” Reed added. “I will be making sure to tell anyone I see wearing this badge exactly what I think, and I implore others to do the same.”

Alex Gandler, a spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Britain, wrote Monday on X: “I wear the real poppy with pride.”

The Palestine Poppy website promotes its badges as a “symbol of solidarity and remembrance for the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian people and their fight for justice.” The design features black, white and green petals with a red center and border.

Military veteran Stuart Crawford told GB News that the campaign was attempting to “hijack” the familiar remembrance symbol.

“The Remembrance poppy is avowedly apolitical, despite what some misguided people might say, and commemorates our war dead by bringing people together in the act of remembrance,” Crawford said. He described the Palestinian version as “unashamedly political, designed to divide rather than unite.”

Former Royal Navy officer Stuart Fawcett also criticized the initiative, telling the broadcaster: “Now, we see them hijacking our national symbol of remembrance.”

The badges were listed on eBay for £1.74 (about $2.32) each, with more than 1,200 purchases recorded, according to GB News. The campaign says some proceeds support Palestinian assistance, advocacy and legal initiatives.

The broadcaster reported that a video on the campaign’s website includes the slogan: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Critics view the phrase as a call to eliminate Israel.

The website also says an estimated 12,000 Palestinians fought against the Nazis during World War II, citing historian Mustafa Abbasi. His research estimates that approximately 12,000 Palestinian Arabs volunteered for the British Army, a figure encompassing military service rather than exclusively direct combat against German forces.

That service contrasted with the Nazi collaboration of Haj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem. Al-Husseini met Adolf Hitler in November 1941, disseminated antisemitic propaganda, assisted recruitment for German military and Waffen-SS units, and sought to block the rescue of Jewish children to Palestine, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The Royal British Legion, which organizes Britain’s annual Poppy Appeal, told GB News that “people are free to choose to wear different poppies.” It described the traditional red poppy as an inclusive symbol of peace that raises funds for service members, veterans and their families.

GB News said it had approached the Palestine Poppy campaign for comment.