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| Jenny Tonge |
Jenny Tonge, a former MP for the Liberal Democrats, which is the junior partner in the British government, made the comments in a speech at a British university.
"Beware Israel," she said. "Israel is not going to be there for ever in its present form. One day, the United States of America will get sick of giving £70bn a year to Israel to support what I call America's aircraft carrier in the Middle East – that is Israel. One day, the American people are going to say to the Israel lobby in the USA: enough is enough."
She added: "Israel will lose support and then they will reap what they have sown."
Tonge's comments were seized upon by the powerful right-wing British blog Guido Fawkes, which launched a campaign calling for her to be fired from the party.
Tonge was heavily criticized by all British political parties, with the leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband saying there was "No place in politics for those who question existence of the state of Israel."
Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg demanded she apologize but Tonge, a long-time supporter of Palestinian freedom, refused to do so and resigned instead.
As a result, Tonge will remain a peer but will not sit with the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords.
Tonge was previously fired from her shadow Cabinet role in 2004 after claiming she could identify with Palestinian suicide bombers.
"If I had to live in that situation – and I say that advisedly – I might just consider becoming one myself," she said.
"Having seen the violence and the humiliation and the provocation that the Palestinian people live under everyday and have done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand..."
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/british-lord-forced-resign-after-israel-will-not-last-claim
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