At home we love puns and Israel but loathe antisemitism. So Jenny Baroness Tonge is known as ‘M’Lady Lady Loshen Hara’ (Baoness Evil Tongue). But the humour is strictly ‘tongue in cheek’ – of course!
Here I re-post the clip in which the Liberal Democrat peer was caught claiming that ‘Israel won’t be there forever’.
Comments made by individuals during the Middlesex University Free Palestine Society Israel Apartheid Week meeting at which she spoke are now under police investigation.
Meanwhile I also repost without further comment, an analysis of her rocky relationship with the Jewish community and Israel by Martin Bright which appeared in The Jewish Chronicle Online this weekend.
“Baroness Tonge has been a one-woman running sore within the Liberal Democrat Party, poisoning relations with the Jewish community with her persistently distasteful and incendiary comments about Israel. Finally she is gone, effectively sacked after refusing to withdraw her statement during an event at Middlesex University that Israel "will not last forever". Now there is reason to believe that wound can begin to heal.
“Her career as one of the Palestinian people's least effective champions began while still an MP when she said she might herself have considered becoming a suicide bomber if she found herself under Israeli occupation.
“Over the years she has repeatedly evoked classic conspiracy theory language to bemoan the power of the "Israel lobby" - to the intense irritation of her colleagues and the Liberal Democrat leadership. She referred to it again in her resignation statement on Wednesday.
“But, astonishingly, she managed to hold on to the whip.
“When the JC interviewed Nick Clegg in September 2009, he made it clear that he would not remove the whip from the peer, as he did not view her comments at that point as racist.
“He later sacked her from the front bench after she called for an inquiry into accusations that the Israeli Defence Forces had been harvesting organs in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. But she still held the Liberal Democrat whip.
“To give credit to Mr Clegg, he always said he would have no hesitation in removing the whip from the peer if he felt she had overstepped the mark. He has been as good as his word.
“There have always been people within the party who have been deeply troubled by the presence of Baroness Tonge within its ranks.
“Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel have had to plough a lonely furrow and the organisation deserves credit for keeping up the pressure on the leadership over the issue.
“It is no surprise that the now former LibDem peer once again blamed her predicament on "the pro-Israel lobby".
“It is certainly true that she was brought down by an irresistible pincer movement of right-wing bloggers. First, the neo-cons at The Commentator picked up on footage of the Middlesex University event posted by the redoubtable Richard Millett and then passed the baton to the conservative attack dogs at Guido Fawkes.
“But it was probably coverage in The Guardian, not known for its Zionist views, that finally made it obvious that Nick Clegg could no longer hold on to "Jihad Jenny".
“Few will lament the end to her LibDem career, too often punctuated by an irrational hatred of Israel, paranoid conspiracy theory and outright blood libel. Baroness Tonge's views were always on the wilder fringes of British politics, but her position within a mainstream political party gave her the veneer of respectability, albeit increasingly tarnished. Now she has been consigned to the margins, which is exactly where she belongs.”
msniw
2 comments:
Natalie, I cannot understand why there exists this deep rooted hatred for all Jews. Considering that Jews don't invade other countries, train their children to be suicide bombers etc. On the contrary they have a thriving robust democratic system, a modern State that protects the Civil and Human Rights of all its citizens.
It's all about Jewish separateness. It's not to be abided by most people.
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