Honesty and frankness are supposed to be virtues prized among politicians because, the theory goes, if a politician is frank in addressing an issue and does not resort to vague words and sonorous, but essentially meaningless, phrases, the voters, whatever their own opinions, will appreciate that openness. This rule however clearly does not apply to the British opposition Liberal Democrat party, who have just fired one of their front-bench spokesman for being, in effect, too honest. The politician in question, Dr. Jenny Tonge, had said to a pro-Palestinian meeting in London last week that if she had to live in occupied Palestine, in the helpless despair felt by the whole community, “If I had to live in that situation — and I say that advisedly — I might just consider becoming one (a suicide bomber) myself.”
The subsequent uproar has been as predictable as it has been depressing. Pro-Israeli politicians and lobbyists immediately attacked Tonge for failing to sympathize with the innocent victims of Palestinian suicide bombers. This, despite the fact that there was never any doubt that Tonge felt every sympathy with people murdered by the suicide bombers. What her critics chose to ignore was that the Liberal Democrat politician was only expressing understanding of such desperate crimes; she was in no way condoning such actions. The venom with which British Zionists have condemned Tonge demonstrates yet again the great gulf that must be bridged for a just and lasting resolution of the plight of the Palestinians.
The Zionists simply do not want to understand why so many Palestinians are prepared to throw away their lives in the terrible slayings of others. To understand would be to admit the crimes that the Israeli themselves have perpetrated against the Palestinians. There is no room in Zionist thinking for any perception that does not portray the Palestinians as violent, vicious terrorists hell-bent upon the destruction of the Israeli state. If an outsider, who honestly sought to assess the bleakness of Palestinian despair, can be attacked so viciously for voicing her opinion, how much more difficult must it be for a Palestinian or the rare Jewish dove to express a view that flies in the face of Zionist dogma?
But then these outbursts were predictable. What was not expected, however, was that Tonge’s boss, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, should have responded to the dishonest protests and fired her. He might at least have made some attempt to defend her right to understand the horror of the Palestinian community. Honesty and frankness are supposed to be what sets Britain’s third party aside from its two big opponents, Conservative and Labour. Clearly this policy has just been changed. Kennedy and his fellow Liberal Democrats should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
