A British lawmaker known for her strong anti-Israel views suggested that record levels of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK were mainly due to the behavior of the Israeli government.
Baroness Jenny Tonge, who quit the Liberal Democrats she represented in the House of Lords, the upper house of the British legislature, last October, wrote an email to the Community Security Trust (CST), which had published its latest report into anti-Semitism on Thursday
In the email, obtained by the 'Jewish News', Tonge wrote: "Do you NEVER consider that the actions of the Israeli government are contributing towards this rise?
"Sadly, many people do not distinguish between Jewish people and Mr Netanyahu and his colleagues. If the Board of Deputies and the CST spoke up against the abuse if [sic] human rights, flagrant disregard of international law and the Geneva Conventions they would do much to improve the situation here.
“The perpetual victim mentality of your organization is counter productive and does not help real decent Jewish people.”
Of the 1,309 incidents recorded by the CST in 2016, discourse relating to the Middle East was used in 105 cases, of which 62 showed evidence of anti-Israel motivation or beliefs, the watchdog said. Unlike in years that saw conflagrations between Israel and its enemies, the increase in 2016 was not directly attributable to any single factor, the CST said.
Last July, Tonge accused Israel of causing a rise in jihadist violence worldwide. In October 2016, she hosted an event that featured anti-Semitic speakers, after which he party suspended her and she left the Liberal Democrats.
Also last year, she wrote to the ‘Guardian’ newspaper, saying: “It is difficult to believe that a 75 per cent increase in antisemitism it reports have been committed by people who simply hate Jewish people for no reason. It is surely the case these incidents are reflecting the disgust amongst the general public of the way the government of Israel treats Palestinians and manipulates the USA and ourselves to take no action.”
