GETTY Jeremy Corbyn met President Bashar al-Assad at an event by pro-Palestine group

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The Labour leader praised Assad for housing half a million Palestinian refugees and appeared to allege Israel meddled in American politics. During the trip, which cost £1,300 according to Mr Corbyn’s own Register of Members’ Financial Interests, the left wing politician said: “Once again the Israeli tail wags the US dog.”

The British-based Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) hosted the event, a group which four days ago courted controversy by organising a House of Lords event demanding Britain apologise for a pledge made by Arthur Balfour in 1917 which supported the establishment of a Jewish state. Israel has claimed that the organisation is affiliated to Hamas, a designated terrorist group, but the PRC says it denounces antisemitism. Politicians on the trip met President Assad, who is responsible for the displacement and killing of millions of Syrians during the ongoing civil war in the Middle Eastern nation.

GETTY Jeremy Corbyn is an outspoken critic of the current situation in Gaza

Mr Corbyn wrote about the event in communist Morning Star newspaper, saying it marked the anniversary of the date “when Arthur Balfour gave his infamous declaration of support for a Jewish state of Israel”. He went on to claim Hillary Clinton’s failure to back Palestinian settlements, something she announced while secretary of state, showed Israeli bias in American politics. He blasted: “Once again the Israeli tail wags the US dog as Hillary Clinton drops demands to even halt new settlements as the Netanyahu government pushes to continue its dismemberment of the West Bank.”

Mr Corbyn spoke about his experiences of the trip in the Commons, saying: “I pay tribute to the fact that Syria has accommodated a very large number of refugees and ensured that they are able to live in that country in safety.” A Labour Party spokesman said: “Jeremy has consistently spoken out against all forms of antisemitism. “In his speech to Labour Party conference this year, he said: ‘Let me be absolutely clear: antisemitism is an evil. “‘It led to the worst crimes of the 20th century, every one of us has a responsibility to ensure that it is never allowed to fester in our society again."

Jeremy Corbyn in pictures Tue, July 12, 2016 Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn takes part in a community meeting at the Guru Har Rai Gurdwara Sahib temple Play slideshow Reuters 1 of 36 Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at an anti-racism rally in London