British MP: I understand desperation of suicide bombers

[Gimel]

By Reuters

LONDON - A British parliamentarian sparked outrage on Thursday when she said she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if she were a Palestinian.

Speaking eight days after a Palestinian woman killed four Israelis at a Gaza Strip border crossing, Jenny Tonge said she understood attackers' "desperation."

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"If I was in their situation...I might just think about it myself."

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"They are in a terrible plight and the world is standing by and watching," she told BBC News. "Something needs to be done." Her comments were condemned by politicians and families of suicide bomb victims.

"She has encouraged and condoned the most atrocious acts of violence," Lord Janner, vice-chairman of the British Israel Parliamentary Group, said in a statement.

Opposition Conservative Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram said Tonge's words would "sicken those who have lost loved ones to suicide bombers".
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/386077.html


Too often that naive statement is echoed.

[lcordero]

1. too often what naive statement is echoed?

[Forkboy]

2. Her comment,wrongly put as it was

neither condones or encourages it.That naive comment is too often echoed as well.

[KissMyAsscroft]

3. I agree with the MP...

Most Jews, and AMericans for that matter would be doing the same thing if the roles were reversed.

Doesn't make it either side right, but war isn't about who is right.

[aquart]

4. "HER" situtation? Is she referring to the errant wife and mother

Who allowed herself to be equipped with a bomb in order to regain her "honor"?

Is THAT the situation she understands? Where men are using politics to murder their wives and get applause?

[bluesoul]

5. Such comments

are simply wrong. Just as those that find it "understandable" when Palestinian civilians are killed and the usual excuses are thrown. Both is sickening...

[lefty_mcduff]

6. I know what she tried to say

but she said it *very* badly. 'Understanding' the desperation that can lead to such violent acts is one thing (I tend to agree with her). Saying she would become a suicide bomber herself is off the charts, especially for a professional politico who should know how to phrase things delectly.

On the otherhand, I don't think she condoned or encouraged anything. She will be slammed relentlessly for this, so have no fear, she will be very sorry for making these comments (on edit - apparently she has now been sacked).

Now, if only we could apply the same barometer to folks who claim that collateral damage is acceptable in IDF actions (see some of the more repugnant comments by RW US politicians like Tom Delay) and we'd go a long way to addressing the perception of double standards held by many,

I await the torrent of 'moral equivilancy' flames...

[Resistance]

7. both sides are being terrorized by militants from the other side

let's not forget that.

[GabysPoppy]

8. Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram's seem prophetic

'I am sad that a politician could seek to justify such actions'

Inside Pnina Aizenman's home yesterday, the hubbub of Sabbath dinner preparations and the cheerful squeals of her three-year-old son Sagi could not hide the void in her life left by a suicide bomber two summers ago.

On a piano beside the door stood pictures of her daughter Gal, five, and mother Noa, 60, who were among seven killed by a device packed with nails to maximise its devastating effect. That day, the female line of three generations was killed or badly injured. And the horror will never be erased.

After the smoke cleared, Sagi had been found by police sitting on the pavement too bewildered to cry. Hit by fragments of metal in his leg and chest, he was surrounded by body parts and the twisted remnants of his push chair. His shirt was covered in blood. A piece of flesh from one of the dead stuck to him.

They had been standing at a bus stop in the French Hill neighbourhood of Jerusalem when the terrorist, from the Al Aqsa Martyrs brigades, linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, approached them, blew himself up and ripped the Aizenman family apart.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$Z1XK3XBNPNBGLQFIQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2004/01/24/ntonge224.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/24/ixnewstop.html

[Comadreja]

19. Ghastly, all right

It could just as easily be describing the aftereffects of an Israeli terror attack on a Palestinian family. The delivery systems are different, but the effects are the same. I approve of neither, BTW.

[drdon326]

9. Oh Ms. Tonge ??

If I was in your situation , I'd be damned glad i didnt
have to worry about getting on a bus or getting a slice
of pizza. No need to worry yourself about about the mindless
atrocities of palestinian terrorism.

Ms. Tonge....GFY.

[drdon326]

10. btw....

i let ms. tonge know exactly how i felt at her website.

http://www.jennytonge.org.uk/


Fell free to tell this wonderful lady how you feel.

i e-mailed this thread to her.

[Ms. Wonderful]

14. I just emailed her to

let her know she is not alone! To that end, I sent along like-minded sentiments as follows:

cut

The Palestinians, of course, have been the greatest victims of this half a century of Israeli terror. In fact, Israel carved its state out of Palestine through a deliberate policy of mass terror against the Palestinians. It was the method by which they drove 800,000 of them from their homes, businesses and farms(9). In his book The Revolt(10), former Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, boasts about his role in the massacre of the 254 Palestinians at Deir Yassin. (Most of the victims were elderly men, women and children who remained in the Israeli-occupied village) In his book, Begin points out that Deir Yassin and other massacres caused panic among the residents, causing them to flee in terror from their homes. This intentional mass terror enabled the Zionists to take control of Palestine. And, it should be noted that the refugees are still not permitted to return home after more than half a century!

cut

The Mossad is the most ruthless terrorist organization in the entire world. It is also one of the largest and most sophisticated intelligence organizations. No other nation comes even close to its scope and power in the Mideast region. It prides itself on infiltrating every sizable militant Palestinian and Arabic organization on earth. Knowing these facts, there can be little doubt the Mossad has deeply penetrated one of the oldest, largest and what is considered the most dangerous Arabic terrorist organization on earth; bin Laden’s al-Qaida.

cut

Courageously share the information of this article with other Americans and the rest of the world. Let us tell the truth about the worst terrorist nation on earth: Israel. In doing so, you will help save not only the Palestinian people, but the lives and freedom of the American people as well.



David Duke

Former Member of the House of Representatives
State of Louisiana, United States of America


http://www.geocities.com/w_oransa/david.htm

[Jack Rabbit]

11. Related thread

Jenny Tonge Sacked for Suicide bomber comments

Please click here.

[GabysPoppy]

12. Your point being ?

That thread deteriorated from the main point and became virtually wasted.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. No point to make

It's a related thread.

If one looks, there are some nuggets on that thread. Otherwise, it deteriorates as you said. That kind of deterioration is very typical around here. Some of us learn to read around the garbage. Some may find it worthwhile. Others may not. Let each decide for himself.

[drdon326]

15. Need opinion...should I e-mail this to her ??

"While I absolutely would not condone your murder,I might understand why someone want to kill you.....since this is the logic you used
to "understand" suicide bombers."

[Jack Rabbit]

16. No

Since she has been removed from the front bench, I really don't see the point in saying anything to her.

However, if I were to say anything, it would be to chide her for her choice of words. Again, it's one thing to express a point of view sympathetic to Palestinians, but it is another to do so in a way that conjurs visions of the speaker committing a terrorist act.

[drdon326]

17. Jack....

i really like you but youre no fun.lol

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[drdon326]

20. Jenny from the park...