Letter to Richmond and Twickenham Times from Mrs Aisha Erekat

Sir

Careless talk costs lives and a loose Tonge is most dangerous of all.

There are intelligent and adult ways in which our politicians can express the concerns Richmond MP Jenny Tonge seeks to, without hallmarking terrorism and suicide bombing as she does. As an Arab Palestinian immigrant I read her comments and watched her performance on Newsnight last week with growing disbelief, marvelling at how badly researched, emotionally overacted and fatally flawed her arguments were. When she makes the case for Palestinian suicide bombers as being poor, desperate and oppressed she is factually inaccurate as the profile of the bombers confirms that they are, in the main, highly articulate, personable and well resourced young men who are religious and political zealots. Prior to embarking on their suicide missions they make professional-standard, well directed and emotionally compelling videos where they declaim to camera, glorifying and exulting in the forthcoming massacre and dedicating their imminent suicide and martyrdom to the political and spiritual liberation of Palestine. Not a single video has been shown, of the hundreds in existence, featuring the poor, oppressed mothers and grandmothers MP Tonge would have us believe exists in order to justify her genocidal scenario, the type of woman she claims she would have been had she been a Palestinian and in their shoes.

MP Tonge's inability to conduct basic research into sensitive areas has already been exposed in this newspaper when her attack on Richmond AIDS charity Positively Healthy, for prioritising AIDS in Richmond over Africa, backfired, as her data were proved to be flawed and her views scientifically and economically unjustifiable (Letters, 05.12.03). It would appear Jihad Jenny only opens her mouth to change feet and this would be comic if it did not have tragic consequences.

MP Tonge would undoubtedly agree with Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission (EC) when he cancelled a 2004 conference on anti-Semitism, at the same time publishing an opinion poll showing that most Europeans consider Israel the greatest threat to world stability and peace. It is considered the reason for this cancellation was that the EC does not want to admit that the main source of anti-Semitism emanates from immigrant Muslim communities in the EC. The Palestinian Authority receives millions of Euros annually from the EC and vigorously promotes anti-Semitism in its schools and on television with this funding. Interestingly, however, not a single EC official is on public record as defending suicide bombers as has MP Tonge.

Having risen without trace to become MP for Richmond Park may she now sink without trace once again.

Mrs Aisha Erekat