<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[British Lord forced to resign after &#8220;Israel will not last&#8221;&nbsp;claim]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="77167" data-permalink="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/hunger-striker-khader-adnan-rushed-for-surgery/akhbar-logo2-7/" data-orig-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/akhbar-logo24.png" data-orig-size="420,90" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="akhbar-logo2" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/akhbar-logo24.png?w=420" data-large-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/akhbar-logo24.png?w=420" class="size-full wp-image-77167 alignnone" title="akhbar-logo2" src="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/akhbar-logo24.png?w=420&#038;h=90" alt="" width="420" height="90" /></p>
<p><a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/british-lord-forced-resign-after-israel-will-not-last-claim?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29" target="_blank"><strong>Al Akhbar Published Wednesday, February 29, 2012 </strong></a></p>
<p>A British Lord has been forced to resign from her party after saying that Israel would not last forever if it continued to oppress the Palestinians.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>&#8220;Beware Israel,&#8221; she said. &#8220;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&#8217;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.&#8221;</p>
<p>She added: &#8220;Israel will lose support and then they will reap what they have sown.&#8221;</p>
<p>Tonge&#8217;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.</p>
<p>Tonge was heavily criticized by all British political parties, with the leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband saying there was &#8220;No place in politics for those who question existence of the state of Israel.&#8221;</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>As a result, Tonge will remain a peer but will not sit with the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords.</p>
<p>Tonge was previously fired from her shadow Cabinet role in 2004 after claiming she could identify with Palestinian suicide bombers.</p>
<p>&#8220;If I had to live in that situation – and I say that advisedly – I might just consider becoming one myself,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>&#8220;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&#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p>Al-Akhbar</p>
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<p><strong>Related: <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><a href="http://is.gd/cfavmX" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ff0000;text-decoration:underline;">Israel. Not looking for Peace. Nor Talks. But this&#8230;</span></a></span></span></strong></p>
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