Palestine: United Nations General Assembly Resolution
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The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi)
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to respond for the Government to this debate, brought by the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, about the discussions that we have had with the Palestinian leadership in light of the Palestinian resolution at the UN General Assembly last week. It is an important and timely debate and I welcome it. I know the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a matter of great interest to the House and, as always, involves great emotion and sincerity of views on all sides. Achieving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of this Government’s top international priorities.
The UK has long been clear that we support a negotiated settlement, leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, based on the 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, with Jerusalem as a shared capital of both states and with a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees. That is the only way to secure a sustainable end to the conflict, and it has wide support in this House and across the world.
However, there has been a dangerous impasse in the peace process over the past two years, as referred to by my noble friend Lord Alderdice. The pace of settlement building has increased, and we have seen new and concerning reports of this in recent days. Continued rocket attacks on Israel and continued settlement building have resulted in frustration and insecurity deepening on both sides and the parties have not been able to agree a return to talks.
We are grateful to Egypt, the United States and the UN Secretary-General for their role in bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza last month. We now need to build on this to bring about a lasting peace, including, as my noble friend Lord Phillips of Sudbury said, the opening up of the blockade in Gaza for trade as well as for aid; and, of course, also an end to the smuggling of weapons. The crisis in Gaza and tragic loss of Palestinian and Israeli life show why the region and the world cannot afford a vacuum in the peace process.
The frustration felt by many ordinary Palestinians about the lack of progress in the peace process is wholly understandable. We condemn illegal settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, because it threatens the very viability of the peace process and a two-state solution that we all support. After many decades, the Palestinians still do not have the state they aspire to. That is why we have consistently asked Israel to make a more decisive offer to Palestinians than in the recent past, and have also called on Palestinians not to set preconditions for negotiations.
We agree with my noble friend Lord Palmer that the parties must get back to the negotiating table. Only today, our consul-general in Jerusalem conveyed this view to the chief Palestinian negotiator. The only way to resolve the dangerous impasse in the peace process is a rapid return to credible talks. This is the Government’s guiding principle, and it was this concern that determined the Government’s approach to the Palestinian resolution at the UN General Assembly last Thursday. Nevertheless, we respect the course of action chosen by President Abbas. There is no doubt that he is a courageous man of peace. Let me be clear: we want to see a Palestinian state and look forward to the day when its people can enjoy the same rights and dignity as those of any other nation. That is why we stress the urgency of negotiations leading to a two-state solution.
Noble Lords, including my noble friend Lord King of Bridgwater, raised questions and concerns about the assurances that the Government sought from President Abbas and the position we took in relation to the vote. The Government, I suppose, judged that these assurances would help facilitate a return to negotiations. However, our priority now is to try to restart those negotiations. We call on all parties to show the political will necessary to achieve this. We will redouble our efforts to restart the peace process and continue our strong support for the two-state solution. As I have said to this House on many occasions, and indeed only recently, 2013 will be a crucial year for the Middle East peace process. We have urged Israel to avoid reacting to the resolution in a way that undermines the peace process and a return to negotiations. The Foreign Secretary spoke to the Israeli Foreign Minister on Friday and the Israeli Defence Minister on Saturday. He made clear that we would not support a reaction that sidelined President Abbas or risked the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
We are therefore extremely concerned by the decision of the Israeli Cabinet to approve the building of 3,000 new housing units in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This Government, along with our European partners, have consistently made clear that settlements are illegal under international law and undermine trust between the parties. If implemented, these plans would alter the situation on the ground on such a scale that it would make the two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, increasingly difficult to achieve, if not impossible. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Guildford was right to raise settlements as a pivotal issue. Such plans undermine Israel’s international reputation and create doubts about its stated commitment to achieving peace with the Palestinians. We need urgent efforts by the parties and by the international community to achieve a return to negotiations, not actions that will make that harder.
In all the conversations that the UK has had with Palestinian negotiators, and those that the Deputy Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have had with President Abbas in the past week, relations have been excellent. That deep friendship will continue. The financial and political support that the UK gives, with very strong cross-party support, to the Palestinian Authority, which is among the foremost in the world, is understood well by the Palestinian Authority and will, of course, continue. We want the Palestinian Authority to succeed and we believe that President Abbas is the best interlocutor that Israel will have to bring about peace. We continue to be in regular contact with the Palestinian Authority, and officials in our consulate-general in Jerusalem had meetings in Ramallah today to reinforce the UK’s firm commitment to and support for the Palestinian Authority. My right honourable friend Mr Burt is planning, possibly this evening or tomorrow, to speak to the Palestinian chief negotiator.
We have been clear that we deplore the recent decision of the Israeli Government to build 3,000 new housing units and to unfreeze development in the E1 block, and the confiscation of this month’s clearance revenues. This threatens the viability of the two-state solution. On Saturday, the Foreign Secretary publicly called on the Israeli Government to reverse this decision. In common with steps taken by other European partners, including France, the Israeli ambassador to London was formally summoned to the Foreign Office this morning by my right honourable friend the Minister for the Middle East, who set out the depth of the UK’s concerns about the recent Israeli decision.
The noble Baroness, Lady Royall, asked what representations had been made to Israel on the confiscation of customs revenues. The Minister for the Middle East conveyed our serious concerns about this decision to the Israeli ambassador this morning. The national security adviser, Sir Kim Darroch, reinforced this concern to his Israeli counterpart when they spoke this afternoon. The noble Baroness, Lady Royall, also raised the question of what consultations we have had with the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton. We have had a number of consultations with key international partners since Friday, including with the office of the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, and with the US Administration. We note the strong statements of the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, and Secretary of State Clinton on these issues.
My noble friend Lord Alderdice raised important points based on greater experience. I am grateful for his contribution and also for the tone of his contribution. It is of course right that a regional initiative is important. Egypt’s success in relation to the Gaza ceasefire is just one great example of this, but I am sure my noble friend will agree with me that the US must now step up to the mark, as real progress will be made only with its positive involvement.
The noble Lord, Lord Janner, is right when he says that the future has to be agreed through diplomacy, not rockets. The recent conflict in Gaza left 160 Palestinians and six Israelis dead. That is not the way forward. The noble Lord, Lord Judd, raised important issues, noting that in order to lay the foundations for future agreement, we must understand history. I agree that an even-handedness in this matter is as much in the interests of Israel as of the Palestinian people. The noble Lord, Lord Williams of Baglan, also raised the issue of settlements. I hope he feels that I have dealt with that already.
Palestine is now a non-member observer state at the United Nations but, sadly, the situation on the ground remains the same. The only way to give the Palestinian people the state they deserve, and the Israeli people the security they are entitled to, is through a negotiated two-state solution. That requires both parties to return to negotiations, Israel to stop illegal settlement building and Palestinian factions to reconcile with each other.
The past month has highlighted the fragility of the situation in the Middle East and the coming year will prove crucial if peace is to be achieved. Urgency is required to ensure that we grasp the opportunities that will be presented. We encourage the US, with the strong and active support of the UK, the EU and the international community, to show decisive leadership and do all it can in the coming weeks and months to drive the process forward.
If progress on negotiations is not made next year, the two-state solution could become impossible to achieve. That is why the Foreign Secretary has said to the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, that such an effort would need to be more intense than anything seen since the Oslo peace accords. We are ready to throw our support behind this to find a solution to the conflict before it is too late.