Dr Jennifer Louise Tonge, Baroness Tonge (born Jennifer Louise Smith, 19 February 1941), is a medical doctor and was Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, London, UK from 1997 to 2005. She was Liberal Democrat spokesman on International Development from 1999 to 2003, and then the spokesperson for children from 2003 to 2004. In 2002 she asked PM Blair if he was "happy to allow the teaching of creationism alongside Darwin's theory of evolution in state schools" - to which he readily agreed, triggering a row over the issue. On 23 June 2005 she was made a life peer as Baroness Tonge. In 2006 she commented on the disproportionate influence of the Israeli Lobby in the West (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Tonge ).
Dr Jennifer Tonge on comparison of besieged Gaza with the Warsaw Ghetto (2003): "You are almost getting a situation like the Warsaw ghetto - people can't get in or out. They can't work, they can't sell anything. There is this gradual squeeze…I feel it was an apartheid system and it is certainly getting worse - the area where the Palestinians live is getting smaller…Israel says everything it does is for security but they are not addressing the cause of terrorism, only terrorism itself.” [1].
Baroness Tonge in the House of Lords Tonge asked about investigations into alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza (12 January 2009): "Is the Minister aware that Mrs Pillay, the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has spoken of war crimes being committed in Gaza? Will the Government, therefore, show leadership and call for the immediate—and I mean immediate—establishment by the United Nations Security Council of an independent fact-finding commission to Palestine to investigate all breaches of international law?” [2].
Responsible department: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
"We call on Her Majesty’s Government to openly recognise British responsibility for the plight of the Palestinian people. The colonial policy of Britain between 1917-1948 led to mass displacement of the Palestinian nation.
The British government failed to protect the Palestinian people, which was a breach of its obligations under the Mandate. Britain’s failure led to communal strife, violence and mass displacement of more than half of the Palestinian population before expiration of its Mandate.
The Balfour declaration of 1917 clearly prejudiced the rights of Palestinian people and sealed their fate, leading to untold suffering. Since then, seven million Palestinian refugees, more than half the Palestinian population have had to endure this historic injustice, a blatant denial of their human rights.
HM Government bears responsibility for the plight of Palestinians and has a duty to ensure proper restoration and reparation for its historical failure." [3].
Baroness Jenny Tonge (anti-racist UK peer) in calling for boycotts against Apartheid Israel (2017): “[I am] sick of hearing about new settlements, sick of seeing bulldozers destroying homes, sick of seeing little children bullied and shot” [4].
[2]. Jennifer Tonge, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Tonge .
[4]. Steve Sweeney, “”, Protesters greet “war criminal” Netanyahu”, Morning Star, 7 February 2017: https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-535e-Protests-greet-war-criminal-Netanyahu#.WJ-HI_Ire70 .