A couple of weeks ago we reported 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. The event is being organised by the Palestinian Return Centre.

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 to 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

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