British police have launched an investigation against MP George Galloway, after he declared his constituency an "Israel free zone" during a speech, ITV reported on Thursday.
The speech caused outcry on social media after being posted online.
In it, Galloway said, “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 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.”
West Yorkshire Police said it was investigating Galloway’s comments, according to ITV.
A force 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 August 2. We are currently investigating the complaints."
Galloway has a long history of anti-Israeli bigotry. He was branded a racist when he stormed out of a debate after finding out that his opponent was Israel, saying "I don't debate with Israelis."
In addition, he has publicly aired several bizarre anti-Israel conspiracy theories, including claims that Israel was engineering unrest in Ukraine, and that the Jewish state had given chemical weapons to Al Qaeda - comments he then denied making despite them having been recorded.
Galloway was thrown out of the British caucus in 2003 after vocally opposing Britain’s involvement in the war in Iraq. He heads the British pro-Hamas Viva Palestina, which tried to bring in an aid convoy to Gaza but was stopped by Egyptian authorities.