LONDON: The Liberal Democrat party in UK has suspended its MP David Ward after he posted a tweet, calling Israel an “apartheid state”.
Bradford East MP, who had previously been reprimanded by Lib-Dems for questioning Zionist regime’s treatment of Palestinians, is suspended until September 13 by the party.
Ward would no longer be considered as a parliamentary party member after he posted a tweet on July 13 stating, “Am I wrong or are am I right? At long last the Zionists are losing the battle – how long can the apartheid State of Israel last?”
The Liberal Democrat chief whip Alistair Carmichael announced yesterday he had suspended the MP over the language he used when referring to the Zionist regime of Israel.
Ward, however, condemned the ruling as “disproportionate”, saying he will not apologize for his comments.
“I will not apologize for describing the state of Israel as an apartheid state. I don’t know how you can describe it as anything else,” Ward said.
“I am genuinely quite shocked at the reaction to the kind of thing many people say,” he added.
The Liberal Democrat party also recently expelled Baroness Jenny Tonge following her anti-Israel remarks in which she asserted that “Israel won’t be there forever”.
