Nothing British calls on Lib Dem Baroness to Boycott Extremist Rally
This is a guest post from Nothing British About The BNP
A couple of weeks ago we reported about the news of Liberal Democrat Baroness Jenny Tonge being invited to share a platform with prominent Islamists and Kristina Morvai, a close friend of BNP leader Nick Griffin MEP and leader of the extremist nationalist Hungarian party Jobbik in the European parliament.
Below is a copy of a letter we have sent to Lady Tonge’s office in the House of Lords.
Nothing British is waiting to receive a reply from her office.
Dear Lady Tonge,
Nothing British recommends that Baroness Jenny Tonge rejects the Palestinian Return Centre’s invitation to attend its December 2009 London conference
I am writing to ask whether you will be attending the following event.
On Wednesday 14th October 2009 the Palestinian Telegraph announced that on the 16th December 2009 the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) is to hold an “international conference to discuss the future of Palestinian refugees” and “to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency” (UNRWA). Having spoken to the PRC, they have confirmed this event will be taking place.
The announcement was also made through the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA[i]. In the past WAFA has received funding from European diplomatic agencies including the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
Along with the former Labour MP Clare Short, you are reported to be one of the confirmed guests at this event. The PRC have stated that you will be attending the event.
The PRC is an organisation which was close to those factions within Palestinian society which opposed and rejected the Oslo Peace process, and is close to the terrorist group, Hamas.
Many PRC organisers have extremely close associations with the Hamas leadership, including Khaled Maashal and Ishmael Haniya. Moreover, in November 2008 PRC director Majed Al Zeer shared a platform with Hamas leader Khaled Maashal in Damascus.
I thought that you should be aware of the following people who will also be in attendance at the event on the 16th December.
Kristina Morvai- Lawyer, Human Rights Lecturer and leader of Jobbik in the European Parliament.
Jobbik is a Hungarian far-right nationalist party and is accused of being anti-Semitic, anti-Gypsy and racist. It proposes to abolish abortion, re-establish the death penalty and create a special police unit to deal with “gypsy delinquency.”
Until October 2009, Jobbik had its own militia which took up the colours of the Hungarian war time Nazi sympathising party, the Arrow Cross, and its uniforms are reminiscent of the Nazis. The militia would regularly march through Roma ghettos in Hungary, stoking up ethnic tensions.
In July 2009 the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Ms Morvai as saying the following:
“I would be glad if the so-called proud Hungarian Jews would go back to playing with their tiny little circumcised tail rather than vilifying me.”[ii]
26th October 2009 – It was announced that Jobbik and the British National Party would enter a European nationalist alliance along with France’s Front National, Italy’s Fiamma Tricolore, Sweden’s National Democrats and Belgium’s Walloon extremists, the Front Nationalists.[iii] Nick Griffin spoke at an October 2008 Jobbik rally in Hungary and his speech can be seen on their website.[iv]
16th October 2009 – I spoke to Zsanett Makkai, Ms Morvai’s assistant in Strasbourg, who confirmed that Ms Morvai had been invited by the PRC to attend and speak at the PRC conference in London.
Dr Daud Abdullah – Deputy Secretary General of the MCB
In March 2009, Abdullah was a signatory of the “Istanbul Declaration”, a statement which sanctioned terrorist attacks on foreign navies, including possibly the British Navy, if they try to intercept arms smuggled into Gaza used for attacks on Israel.
Below is an extract from the declaration:
7. The obligation of the Islamic Nation to regard everyone standing with the Zionist entity, whether countries, institutions or individuals, as providing a substantial contribution to the crimes and brutality of this entity; the position towards him is the same as towards this usurping entity.
8. The obligation of the Islamic Nation to regard the sending of foreign warships into Muslim waters, claiming to control the borders and prevent the smuggling of arms to Gaza, as a declaration of war, a new occupation, sinful aggression, and a clear violation of the sovereignty of the Nation. This must be rejected and fought by all means and ways.[v]
Nothing British’s recommendations
We believe it would be a terrible mistake for you attend the PRC conference and to share a platform with homophobes, anti-Semites, racists and Islamists whose values are inimical to the gentle British values of tolerance, fair-play and respect for one another.
Nothing British, the anti-racism and anti-extremist campaign group, calls on you to do the following:
1. Not to attend the Palestinian Return Centre event on the 16th December 2009.
2. Give a statement distancing yourself from the PRC’s decision to invite Ms Morvai and Mr Abdullah to its conference.
Yours sincerely
Maurice Cousins
Researcher at Nothing British
[i] http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=13237
[ii] http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090959.html
[iii] http://euobserver.com/9/28888#
[iv] http://www.jobbik.com/videos/3112.html
[v] http://www.hurryupharry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/istpdf.pdf
Comments
| 27 October 2009, 7:08 pm |
Is this Morvai person a supporter of the Palestinians cos of anti-Semitism or what ? We’ve quite often seen the likes of the BNP “backing” Israel here – all very confusing.
| 27 October 2009, 7:13 pm |
Racism begins with our families, parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents, people we admire, respect and love.
However, as we grow and mature we come to the realization that what we were told by our family when we were children were slanted lies base on their prejudices. We realize that most people are like ourselves and not so different and want the same things, like a home, steady work, a Medicare plan and schools for our children (if you travel you will see this). We realize that most people are of good hearts and goodwill.
This reminds me of a parable from the good book where a Levite and Priest come upon a man who fell among thieves and they both individually passed by and didn’t stop to help him.
Finally a man of another race came by, he got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy and got down with the injured man, administered first aid, and helped the man in need.
Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his fellow man.
You see, the Levite and the Priest were afraid, they asked themselves, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?”
But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
That’s the question before us. The question is not, “If I stop to help our fellow man (immigrant) in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help our fellow man, what will happen to him or her?” That’s the question.
This current climate of blaming others for our woes is not new. We have had this before and we have conquered it.
Remember “Evil flourishes when good men (and women) do nothing”. Raise your voices with those of us who believe we are equal and we can win this battle again.
| 27 October 2009, 7:53 pm |
The naive people who are apparently willing to share platforms with Islamists and other extremists should have the reality of their actions pointed out to them.
This is very welcome and I hope the Baroness makes the right decision.
| 27 October 2009, 7:59 pm |
Hang on a minute – doesn’t Nothing British put itself forward as a conservative anti-BNP outfit? I know that they have never replied to my question which queried their line about being “ordinary working people” when they are headed by a bum-sucking scab and some city boy, but this latest outburst is silly. Why are they getting mixed up in the Palestine issue? What the hell has that got to do with their reason for being?
| 27 October 2009, 8:17 pm |
Mark T – Your first comment is right on the mark. The poison Tongue will, doubtless, vomit vitriol once again. Also don’t hold your breath for Clegg withdrawing the Lib Dem whip from this Gorgon.
| 27 October 2009, 8:28 pm |
“Why are they getting mixed up in the Palestine issue? What the hell has that got to do with their reason for being?”
You mean a bit like Amnesty writing papers about Palestinian water or indeed like any other non-Palestinian or Israeli people getting mixed up in the Palestinian issue? It’s an Israeli/Palestinian issue isn’t it?
What has it got to do with anyone else, in fact what has it got to do with you, for instance.
| 27 October 2009, 8:34 pm |
Is she still a LibDem?
I thought she was thrown out off the front bench for supporting suicide bombings against Israelis and made a life peer instead.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3421669.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Tonge
She met her future husband, Dr Keith Tonge, while dissecting a corpse in 1959[1] and married him on 23 May 1964 in Wednesbury.
She’ll attend alright, birds of a feather and all that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Tonge#Controversial_remarks_about_Israel
In January 2004, while still a Member of Parliament, Tonge was asked to step down as children’s spokeswoman by Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy after saying of Palestinian suicide bombers: “If I had to live in that situation – and I say that advisedly – I might just consider becoming one myself.” Tonge refused to apologise: “I was just trying to say how, having seen the violence and the humiliation and the provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand…”[8][9]
Tonge said in 2006: “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.” In response, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell chastised Tonge, saying her remarks were “unacceptable” and had “clear anti-Semitic connotations.” An all-party group of lords led by the former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, said her “irresponsible and inappropriate” comments “evoked a classic anti-Jewish conspiracy theory.” In response Tonge said that professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s article “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” that appeared in the March 23, 2006 issue of The London Review of Books supported her assertion that the “‘Israel lobby’ had a disproportionate voice in Anglo-American foreign policy.” She also emphasized that her comments “were about the Israeli lobby in politics. They were a big distance from being about Jewishness or anti-Semitism.”
| 27 October 2009, 8:38 pm |
WormTonge, will probably attend. And it is highly unlikely that she will face any censure from her own party. It isn’t going out on TV to millions of viewers, she isn’t being challenged in public, and the anti-semitism that happens when they think no-one is looking, will survive and thrive.
| 27 October 2009, 8:58 pm |
Dear Exile,
We haven’t heard from you for a while. How is Mexico?
In answer to your question, we wrote to Lady Tonge to point out to her that she has been invited to share a platform with an Islamist and a far-right extremist with very close links to the BNP leader Nick Griffin MEP – a man who confuses Nazi war criminals like Jodl and Keitel, responsible for committing crimes against humanity, with brave British generals like Dannatt, Jackson, Guthrie and Cordingley who promote liberal democracy, remove dictatorships in Iraq, sadistic regimes in Afghanistan and protect Britain from her enemies overseas.
It should be patently obvious why we are concerned about a British peeress (of whatever political stripes) agreeing to share a platform with people who do not have the interests of the British people and her allies at heart. Ms Morvai and Mr Abdullah are well known for admiring individuals and groups that are enemies of Britain and her friends.
Warmest wishes,
M
| 27 October 2009, 9:08 pm |
mission statement here:
* We believe in addressing the concerns of those people who feel alienated from their society by government failures on issues like immigration, Europe, religious extremism and job insecurity. This means campaigning for policies that work.
* We believe in standing up to the BNP’s politics of racism and intimidation. This means providing fair and balanced rebuttal of the BNP’s message.
* Lastly, we want to reach out to the kinds of people who are thinking of voting BNP, whether they are fed up, worried about their country or they just want to throw a stone at the government. This means explaining to people in a language they understand why Nick Griffin’s BNP stands for a nasty neo-facist ideology that has no place in modern Britain.
the proof is in the pudding. what the hell has this got to do with your mission statements? you say:
It should be patently obvious why we are concerned about a British peeress (of whatever political stripes) agreeing to share a platform with people who do not have the interests of the British people and her allies at heart.
So where are all your organisation’s statements of outrage at – say – David Cameron’s actual alliance with yer actual far-right parties in Europe? nowhere on your website, that’s for certain.
you could at least pretend to have principles. instead you’ve just exposed your organisation for what it is – yet another leftie-bashing think tank with no interest in universal values.
| 27 October 2009, 9:42 pm |
Steve,
We are all in something of a midden. Fragrance is not an option. Some of us are seeking those who stink the least, while others consider the most covert silent farts to be the most toxic.
Tea break is over soon, time to get back on your head..
| 27 October 2009, 9:53 pm |
The Tonge woman will be at home with this lot
| 27 October 2009, 10:16 pm |
I appreciate the sentiment, but don’t get the point of your letter. Given her record, this seems to be an entirely appropriate platform for Tonge.
| 27 October 2009, 11:42 pm |
Tonge will be there with bells on. This anti-Jewish hatefest is right up her street. The fact that vile bigots like her exist in the parliaments of countries makes me relieved that Israel exists.
| 28 October 2009, 12:10 am |
Hello Maurice,
The reason why you haven’t heard from me is that the site no longer allows comments, which is a pity. Mexico City is what London will be in a few years: an overcrowded, crime ridden, corrupt shithole. (Well you did ask, didn’t you?)
You also didn’t answer my question so let’s try again. You are supposed to be an anti-BNP outfit, but you are stretching credulity here with your criticism of a woman who may share a platform with someone who has at best tangential links to the BNP. It looks to my jaundiced eye as if this has less to do with the BNP and more to do with supporting Israel. The point is that supporting what the former French Ambassador to the Court of St. James rather engagingly called “that shitty little country” is not what you are supposed to be about.
Finally, and for the fourth time, how can you claim that your site reflects “ordinary working people” when it is run by a scab and a city spiv?
Cheers
| 28 October 2009, 1:59 am |
It is useless to try to appeal to Tonge’s honorable side as she doesn’t have one.
| 28 October 2009, 2:26 am |
Well Exile, its about about the Jew hatred that links boths camps. Two cheeks of the same arse etc.
“The reason why you haven’t heard from me is that the site no longer allows comments, which is a pity. Mexico City is what London will be in a few years: an overcrowded, crime ridden, corrupt shithole.”
Already is.
| 28 October 2009, 2:42 am |
“Is this Morvai person a supporter of the Palestinians cos of anti-Semitism or what ? ”
What do you think?
She is a real sharmutah. A Nazi and a hater. Her party is a disgusting assembly of fascist nationalists who happen to also support Russian Imperialism (something antithetical to Hungarian nationalism), Nazi nostalgists and antisemites of the first order.
They beat gays, Jews, Roma and just about anybody else they deem as inferior. They threaten judges, prosecutors and police officials by making their home addresses public so that their vigilantes can attack them with home made bombs, violence and vandalism.
They are a perfect match for Hamas and the BNP.
Her militia set Roma buildings on fire and shot at the fleeing children.
Her close associate was just arrested recently for having placed bombs inside footballs which were meant for Roma kids to play with and which were planned to be thrown at homes and offices of Liberal and other Leftists party representatives.
Here are some sites associated with her and her puke movement:
NB
Gabor Vona, the leader of Jobbik, used to be the right hand man (no pun intended) of Victor Orban, the soon to be PM and leader of Fidesz. Evidently, Fidesz is hustling the Jobbik vote and militancy toward its own political goals. Jobbik has the thugs and the molotov cocktails, Fidesz has the desire for power usurping this evil movement hoping to be able to easily throw them under the bus once Fidesz forms the government.
Shamefully they refuse to publicly distance themselves from Jobbik or openly condemn their fanaticism and antisemitism.
They are playing with fire and are bringing shame on Hungary for political expediency.
| 28 October 2009, 3:28 am |
C’mon folks.
People like Jenny Tonge see Israel as the ultimate evil, while Islamists just have a few minor behaviour problems.
Just keep exposing these hypocrites.
Live long….
| 28 October 2009, 10:10 am |
I do also see israel as ultimate evil
How so? Because 4 million Jews intellectually dwarf 200 million Arabs?
| 28 October 2009, 10:18 am |
Greg,
By the evidence of Nyubi’s website it is certainly the case that many, many people (of whatever nationality or ethnicity) may intellectually dwarf Nyubi.
| 28 October 2009, 1:43 pm |
My fellow delegate to UNHRC last year was a young Jewish lawyer from Hungary, and already then she told me the Jews of Hungary were living in terror of this group.
Don’t hold your breath.