UK lawmaker fired after comments she made about Israeli’s alleged organ trafficking in Haiti
By APSunday, February 14, 2010
UK lawmaker fired for anti-Israel comments
LONDON — A British lawmaker was fired from her job as her party’s health spokeswoman after she said that there should be a probe into claims that Israeli relief workers were harvesting organs in Haiti.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said Jenny Tonge was dismissed from the role for her “unacceptable” comments.
Tonge told the Jewish Chronicle earlier this week that the Israeli Defense Force should set up an inquiry into claims made in The Palestinian Telegraph, a news Web site, that members of the team were harvesting body parts in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.
Clegg said that Tonge’s comments were “wrong, distasteful and provocative” and that the allegations against the Israeli humanitarian operation in Haiti were “highly offensive.”
“While I do not believe that Jenny Tonge is anti-Semitic or racist, I regard her comments as wholly unacceptable,” he said.
He said Tonge apologized unreservedly for the offense she caused.