British baroness and former MP Jenny Tonge withdrew her patronage from the Palestine Telegraph after the Gaza-based paper posted a video of former KKK leader David Duke labeling Israel as a terrorist threat to the United States.
The front-page video, featuring the former grand wizard of the KKK David Duke, includes the headline “Israel’s terror against America.” In addition to his many racist videos, Mr. Duke has published several anti-Semitic books including Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening on the Jewish Question.
Tonge, formerly a parliamentary representative of the Liberal Democrats, has previously faced criticism for her patronage with the paper, which has published columns charging IDF doctors with organ theft in Haiti.
In February 2010, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg fired Tonge after she alleged that the IDF’s medical teams had been involved in organ harvesting in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. She went as far as to call for an inquiry into the matter. Her allegations were originally published by none other than the Palestine Telegraph where she said, “To prevent allegations such as these - which have already been posted on You Tube - going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti.”
Tonge has long backed supporters of Jewish conspiracy theories. In 2006, Tonge said, “The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the western world, its financial grips. I think they've probably got a grip on our party.” Her statement prompted Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell to call her remarks “unacceptable.” He added that they displayed “clear anti-Semitic connotations.” The former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, said her comments “evoked a classic anti-Jewish conspiracy theory.”
It is because of her positions that she was naturally attracted to the newspaper. Other patrons of the newspaper include Press TV journalist Lauren Booth, MP George Galloway and Louisa Morgantini, Vice President of European Parliament.
Despite her decision to withdraw association with the Palestine Telegraph, Tonge has yet to release any statement countering the views of the paper. Her move was likely political and should not be taken as a change in her political outlook.
