Autor: Jenny Tonge

Jenny graduated as a medical doctor from University College London in 1964. Subsequently, she worked for over 30 years in the NHS, her speciality being sexual and reproductive health and women”s health care. After eight years as a local councillor in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, she was elected to parliament in 1997 as MP for Richmond Park. She stood down from the House of Commons in 2004 after her daughter was killed in an electrical accident, leaving two small boys. The following year, she was offered a life peerage in recognition of her work as the Lib Dem Shadow Secretary of State for International Development and entered the House of Lords as Baroness Tonge of Kew. She continued her interest in international development in the Lords, in parallel with women”s health in developing countries. As Chair of the all-party group for Population Development and Reproductive Health, she put pressure on the Department for International Development to make family planning a top priority, which it became. She first became interested in the Palestine/Israel issue during a visit to Israel and the occupied territories of Palestine (including Gaza) in 2003, which she described as „a life-changing experience”. Since then, she has been an outspoken and controversial figure for her continuing support of the Palestinian people and her frank criticism of the Israeli government.