"If I had to live in that
situation, I might just consider becoming (bomber) one myself,"
Tonge
"A spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy in
London claimed such remarks would inflame the conflict by encouraging
Palestinian fighters to become bombers .."
LONDON - A British Parliament member, who came under fire for saying that she
would consider becoming a self-bomber if she were to suffer as the
Palestinians, said she still stood by her statements Friday, January 23.
“While we are arguing about suicide bombers and whether we condone or
understand them, I think we should say that we don't condone or understand the
Israeli illegal occupation of Palestine since 1997,” Jenny Tonge told Sky
News.
Tonge, the former opposition Liberal Democrat spokeswoman for international
development, was speaking after her statements sympathizing with the
Palestinians drew a fierce outrage among pro-Israel politicians and sparked
calls for her party to condemn what she said.
“We shouldn't understand or condone the settlements and the roads that
separate the Palestinians,” the MP said.
“We should not condone or understand the security wall,” she added,
referring to Israel’s separation wall that intrudes on swathes of
Palestinian territories and isolate thousands of Palestinians from their
farmlands.
‘Desperation’
Tonge had told a Westminster rally that if she had to “live in that
situation - and I say that advisedly - I might just consider becoming one
myself”.
“Many many people criticize, many many people say it is just another form of
terrorism, but I can understand and I am a fairly emotional person and I am a
mother and a grand mother”.
The MP said that the attacks are triggered out of desperation caused by
Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians, including almost-daily
incursions and mass detentions.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy in London claimed such remarks would
inflame the conflict by encouraging Palestinian fighters to become bombers.
“We were shocked to hear these remarks which were extremely disgraceful. Her
words show something about her moral standards,” she said.
Ellman, a member of the Labor friends of Israel group, also called on “Jenny
should be making an apology”.
Kenneth Collins, a former chair of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities,
said everybody understood people being in a difficult situation, but dismissed
Tonge’s comments as “irresponsible”.
The waves of outrage, however, revived memories of the attack against Cherie
Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for pro-Palestinian remarks
in June 2002.
Cherie was forced in June, 2002, into a public apology for saying that young
Palestinians felt they had no choice but to blow themselves up.
“As long as young people feel they have got no hope but to blow themselves
up, you are never going to make progress," she said, appearing alongside
Queen Rania of Jordan at the launch of a charity appeal in London to improve
medical assistance for thousands of Palestinians.
An E.U. poll released October 3, also sparked accusations of anti-Semitism
from Israeli authorities and Jewish groups after it unveiled that Europeans
believed Israel poses the biggest threat to world peace, just ahead of North
Korea, Iran and the United States.
Defiant
Despite coming under heavy fire, Tonge was unrepentant and stood by the
comments.
“I dare say if I was in their situation with my children and my
grandchildren and I saw no hope for the future at all ... I might just think
about it myself," she later told Sky News.
Tonge also told the BBC: “We have to try to understand where they are coming
from”.
Tonge , said she understood her remarks may have upset some people but
insisted she was not condoning violence.
“I was just trying to say how, having seen the violence and the humiliation
and the provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have
done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand and was
trying to understand where [suicide bombers] were coming from,” Tonge told
BBC Radio 4's Today program.
Tonge is stepping down as MP for Richmond Park in south-west London at the
next election.
