A British lawmaker came under fire Wednesday for tweeting that he would fire rockets at Israel if he lived in the Gaza Strip.
“The big question is — if I lived in Gaza would I fire a rocket? Probably, yes,” Liberal Democrat MP David Ward tweeted, Agence France-Presse reported.
Mr. Ward has in the past faced criticism for publicly speaking ill of Israel, having been suspended from his political office for making negative comments about the Jewish state.
After the tweet, some of his fellow politicians called for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to again suspend Mr. Ward, while others characterized the tweet as a call for violence, AFP reported.
The Liberal Democrat Party publicly distanced itself from Mr. Ward’s remarks.
“We utterly condemn David Ward’s comments,” the party said in a statement, according to AFP. “They are not representative of the Liberal Democrats. The party takes this matter very seriously and will treat it as a disciplinary issue.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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