Baroness Blames Suicide Bombing in Iraq on Israel
A letter by Baroness Jenny Tonge published on June 8th in the British Independent showcases the witless irrationality that characterizes discourse among a certain element in British society concerning the Middle East conflicts.
Tonge, a Liberal Democrat MP in the House of Lords, blames Israel’s security wall for Palestinian suicide bombings in Iraq, writing,
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that suicide bombers in Iraq are Palestinians. Israel’s security wall is forcing them to export themselves to another arena to fight in this ridiculous “war” against terrorism being waged by the donkeys who lead us in the West.” (“Roots of suicide bombing in Iraq”)
Ms. Tonge, who once confessed that were she living in the same situation as Palestinians she would consider being a suicide bomber herself, is deeply disturbed that the “wall” (actually mostly a fence) has made it so difficult for Palestinian terrorists to murder Jews that they must now satisfy their compulsion to kill in Iraq.
Tonge’s suggestion that Israel’s barrier causes suicide bombings in Iraq is, of course, pure nonsense. The vast majority of suicide bombers in Iraq are not Palestinian. Most are Saudis, with significant representations of Syrians, Iraqis and Kuwaitis—countries without any Israeli wall.
She then fulminates against Israel’s “brutal occupation,” describing it as the root cause of Osama bin Laden’s terrorism, apparently unaware that Palestine was at most a peripheral concern to him.
According to Baroness Tonge, fear of being labeled an anti-semite inhibits opposition to the US policy in the Middle East. The only solution possibility to resolving the conflict in the Middle East is for “someone in power” to “restore Palestine.” This leaves an uncomfortable question for Ms. Tonge — restore Palestine to what? Since there has never been a Palestinian state, does she favor reinstating the British Mandate or the Ottoman Empire? Or does she simply mean getting rid of the Jews there?
One can only be relieved that power in Britain does not reside among the likes of Jenny Tonge.
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