Jenny Tonge sacked from frontbench role
The Guardian reports that Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, has sacked Baroness Jenny Tonge, the Lib Dem spokesperson in the Lords after she called for an inquiry into allegations that Israeli soldiers were involved in organ trafficking in Haiti.
While speaking to the Jewish Chronicle, she said the Israel Defence Forces were “to be commended for their fantastic response to the Haitian earthquake” but then added; “To prevent allegations such as these [of organ harvesting] — which have already been posted on YouTube — going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti.”
The allegations came in an article from the Palestine Telegraph (of which Tonge is a patron) titled Focus on Israel: Harvesting Haitian Organs by an American researcher, Stephen Lendman, who accused Israel of a “crime against humanity”.
As was pointed out by the guys over at CST blog when the stories about the IDF in Haiti started appearing (on Iranian state backed Press TV no less), the claims about “organ harvesting” take the form of a modern day blood libel – one of the most pervasive antisemitic tropes. This link with the blood libel has been discussed before on this blog.
Following discussions with the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, Lord McNally, Nick Clegg has decided that Jenny Tonge will stand down as Liberal Democrat health spokesperson in the Lords following what he called her “unacceptable comments suggesting an inquiry into highly offensive allegations against the IDF humanitarian operation in Haiti.”
“While I do not believe that Jenny Tonge is antisemitic or racist, I regard her comments as wholly unacceptable. Jenny Tonge apologises unreservedly for the offence she has caused.”
This is a welcome move from the Liberal Democrat leader. As some readers will remember, while giving the annual EISCA lecture in 2009, Nick Clegg was challenged on the position of Jenny Tonge as a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats given her controversial views and statements on ‘the Israel lobby’ and expressing sympathy for suicide bombers. At the time he said that her statements had been condemned and dealt with by both Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell when they were leaders of the party. It seems that this latest comment by Tonge has pushed Clegg to the limit.
Thankfully Tonge’s view is not one held widely by Liberal Democrats. Ed Fordham, the Lib Dem candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, said: “It’s abhorrent that anyone should suggest that something as perverse and sick as this should be investigated.
UPDATE: Martin Bright at the Spectator and Harry’s Place have more.