London's Radical Mayor Suspended for One Month
Jim Kouri, CPP
February 26, 2006
London's Mayor Ken Livingstone was given a one-month suspension by the Standards Board for England's adjudication panel, which found he was "unnecessarily insensitive and offensive" when he compared a Jewish reporter with a concentration camp guard.
Unless he appeals, the suspension will begin on March 1.
Livingstone is considered a radical leftist by many on both sides of the Atlantic and he's made disparaging comments about President Bush, Prime Minister Blair and the United States. As with many leftists, Livingstone is sympathetic to the Palestinians and views Israel as the true evil in the Middle East. And as with many other leftists he's apparently unable to control his tongue.
The old adage, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt," is not one to which Mayor Livingstone adheres.
London's avowed socialist mayor rarely misses an opportunity to criticize Israel. One of his latest verbal hostility towards the Jewish State came in a response to proposal by Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games in 2012, that a ceremony be held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Britain’s ITN Television asked a number of public figures to give their opinion on the proposal and Mayor Livingstone said, “The most suitable way to commemorate the Munich Olympics is the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel but without barriers.”
The Israeli Embassy in London condemned the remarks, saying Livingstone is making cynical use of a historical tragedy to serve his radical political agenda. He's also been seen in the company of radical Islamists, thereby thumbing his nose at Israel, the United States and his own country.
Less than two weeks since the London terror attacks, the city's Mayor Ken Livingstone has sparked controversy by defending the use of suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and charging that Israel had indiscriminately slaughtered Palestinians in acts that "border on crimes against humanity."
"Given that the Palestinians don't have jet planes, don't have tanks, they only have their bodies to use as weapons," Livingstone told Sky News in an interview.
He also told a TV audience that capitalism killed more people than Adolph Hitler.
So how does this obvious madman remain the mayor of a major city? Simple. As is the case in the US, he has a large group of left-wing journalists propping him up with fluff pieces and great photo ops.
Unless he appeals, the suspension will begin on March 1.
Livingstone is considered a radical leftist by many on both sides of the Atlantic and he's made disparaging comments about President Bush, Prime Minister Blair and the United States. As with many leftists, Livingstone is sympathetic to the Palestinians and views Israel as the true evil in the Middle East. And as with many other leftists he's apparently unable to control his tongue.
The old adage, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt," is not one to which Mayor Livingstone adheres.
London's avowed socialist mayor rarely misses an opportunity to criticize Israel. One of his latest verbal hostility towards the Jewish State came in a response to proposal by Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games in 2012, that a ceremony be held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Britain’s ITN Television asked a number of public figures to give their opinion on the proposal and Mayor Livingstone said, “The most suitable way to commemorate the Munich Olympics is the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel but without barriers.”
The Israeli Embassy in London condemned the remarks, saying Livingstone is making cynical use of a historical tragedy to serve his radical political agenda. He's also been seen in the company of radical Islamists, thereby thumbing his nose at Israel, the United States and his own country.
Less than two weeks since the London terror attacks, the city's Mayor Ken Livingstone has sparked controversy by defending the use of suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and charging that Israel had indiscriminately slaughtered Palestinians in acts that "border on crimes against humanity."
"Given that the Palestinians don't have jet planes, don't have tanks, they only have their bodies to use as weapons," Livingstone told Sky News in an interview.
He also told a TV audience that capitalism killed more people than Adolph Hitler.
So how does this obvious madman remain the mayor of a major city? Simple. As is the case in the US, he has a large group of left-wing journalists propping him up with fluff pieces and great photo ops.
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