THE publishers of the Mail on Sunday have paid damages to a Palestinian refugee group for printing a “grotesque” and libellous accusation that it blamed Jews for the holocaust.

Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) announced this week that it has received substantial damages after the right-wing rag published the libellous material in its serialisation of an error-riddled biography of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. 

The unauthorised biography by journalist Tom Bower, which attempted to smear Mr Corbyn as an incompetent leader and an anti-Semite, contained allegations that PRC’s chairman Majed Al-Zeer was “known to blame the Jews for the Holocaust.” 

However the allegation had come from misreporting by the media of comments made by a member of the audience at a meeting hosted by the PRC in the House of Lords in 2016.

The comments were strongly condemned by PRC at the time. 

PRC’s legal representatives, Cater-Ruck, said it was “remarkable” that neither Mr Bower, the book’s publisher Harper Collins, nor the Mail on Sunday “saw fit to properly verify the true position.”

A spokesperson from PRC told the Morning Star that the “grotesque” allegation follows an “escalation of attacks” from the right-wing press against groups that support the Palestinian cause. 

“The horrific accusations levelled against the PRC show how normalised it has become to smear an organisation that works in support of Palestinian refugees,” the spokesperson said.

Last year the Mail’s publisher, Associated Press, was forced to pay £120,000 in libel damages to Palestinian aid group Interpal, after it accused the charity of having links to terrorists. 

Interpal has been subjected to a relentless series of smears from pro-Israeli lobby groups which has significantly impacted the charity’s ability to fundraise. 

PRC said it was “crucial to resist” attempted delegitimisation by right-wing papers, which it argued “solely provide the narrative of pro-Israeli groups while silencing and erasing Palestinian voices.

“While it has not been a simple or short process, we hope this result can show others that there are ways to defend yourself and to hold the media accountable for their false accusations."

The Mail on Sunday and Mail Online published a correction and apology to PRC in March, while Harper Collins and Mr Bower have already withdrawn the allegation. 

Mr Bower’s book “Dangerous Hero,” published in February 2019, was also criticised for printing other falsehoods, including a claim that Momentum organised the junior doctors’ strikes.