Syria and the Middle East
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(10 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for initiating this debate and giving such a good summary of all the events in the area, and the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, for her passionate and informative contribution. I am sure that many of the speakers will repeat many of the statistics. I hope noble Lords will forgive me if I do so but I want to put a slant on them.
The Syrian civil war shows no sign of contracting; according to the latest estimates, the number of fatalities has reached 140,000. The conflict has created 2.4 million refugees to date, and the UNHCR estimates that the number of refugees could rise to 4 million by the end of 2014. Within that overall crisis, there have been the sub-crises, such as the condition of the 20,000 in Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in south Damascus.
We have heard, and will hear in the debate today, how the West is helping the Syrian people. The UK has given £241 million in aid to support the population of Syria, as well as £263 million to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. Food is being provided, I am told, to 130,900 people, and the UK has funded 71,500 medical consultations for refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. EU member states have committed a total of €2.6 billion, €1.1 billion of which has come directly from the EU’s budget. The EU represents the biggest single contributor towards humanitarian relief in Syria.
On 15 January 2014, the United States pledged an additional $380 million on top of the $1.76 billion provided since the crisis began. More than $177 million has been spent within Syria, reaching an estimated 4.2 million people. It always seems very complicated when we talk of pounds sterling, euros and dollars, but, as anyone would say, these amounts are “megabucks”.
One source of aid and relief which receives little publicity is from neighbouring Israel—a surprise to many people. Israel has given medical treatment to some 700 Syrians, and the IDF even set up a field hospital specifically for the purpose of treating Syrian refugees. It is estimated that the number of Syrians seeking medical treatment in Israel will rise in the next year. Through liaison with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, the Israeli defence force—the army—organised for food and winter supplies to be distributed to the Syrian population close to the Israeli border. We are also informed that the IDF frequently leaves aid parcels along Israel’s border with Syria.
The Israeli public have mobilised in aid of the Syrian population. More than 20,000 items of winter clothing were donated in response to an appeal by over 30 youth groups and Israeli Flying Aid, an organisation which supplies aid to countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel. Members of the Knesset of varying political parties have supported this campaign. On top of that, Israel has been working in partnership to support Syrian refugees in neighbouring Jordan, where there are thought to be half a million escaping the war—more than Jordan can cope with alone. Israeli NGO IsraAID has been working in partnership with Jordanian NGOs to provide supplies to displaced Syrians living in Jordan.
All that has been done despite the fact that Israel and Syria are still technically at war with one another, although a ceasefire is in place—one is grateful for small mercies. Indeed, UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry warned the UN Security Council in September last that fighting in the Golan could “jeopardise the ceasefire” after shells landed on the Israeli side of the truce line. The noble Baroness, Lady Symons, also spoke of the danger of escalation on a number of the borders. I echo her sentiments and fears.
I should have declared, as did the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, from another angle, that for some years I have been a vice-president of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel.
It is morally right that Israel helps its neighbours, and it should be encouraged to do so more and more. Its actions may also help to boost co-operation, understanding and the peace that has been so elusive throughout the region. Strange stories come out. CNN carried the quote that a fighter, possibly a rebel, to whom Israel provided medical care said:
“The regime used to make us hate it, but it turned out to be the best country”.
That was just one man’s comment but the fact is that you achieve a lot more by helping people than bombing them, from within or without. Israeli organisations go to considerable lengths to ensure that no Israeli labelling or Hebrew writing is on any aid packages so that refugees will not be accused of being collaborators. The same precautions are taken by Israeli hospitals providing medical treatment.
Israel has so far tried to keep a low profile in the Syrian conflict, and I apologise to it if I am raising that profile somewhat today. Given the high level of anti-Israel sentiment in the region, overt Israeli support for any party could be used to discredit it. I echo the Minister’s comments about the work of Secretary of State Kerry. I only hope and ask that the UK Government do all they can to support his efforts to bring both sides to the negotiating table to make big compromises. That is still a chore that we should be helping Secretary of State Kerry to achieve.
The West is faced with equally bad options in Syria of the Assad regime on the one hand and al-Qaeda and Islamist movements on the other. It is clear that no one knows what to do to end this conflict. Therefore the focus has been to try to support moderate elements in the opposition as much as possible and to provide aid to regional allies such as Jordan, which is bearing the brunt of the social, political and economic consequences of Syrian refugees. There are half a million Syrian refugees in Jordan and the UK Government should be concerned not only for these unfortunate refugees but for the undermining of the Hashemite Kingdom, a long-time friend of Britain. The growing threat from radical jihadists who have been drawn to the Syria conflict should create new impetus for co-operation between Israel and the Arab states in the region. The West would do well to develop and encourage regional frameworks for countering the challenge posed by the jihadists.
What I have tried to add in this debate is that everyone is appalled at the humanitarian crisis, even those whom Syria has previously attacked. We hear of assistance given, some of which has been given largely below the radar, but it must continue. The Minister referred to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2139—although it seems long ago, it was passed only on 22 February—which sets out the need for humanitarian assistance to Syria. There are very many people trapped in besieged areas in Syria and there are large numbers of refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Three-quarters of those refugees, we are told, are women and children. I hope the Minister will say what the Government are doing to support the need for access to these besieged groups to provide urgent humanitarian relief. Aid must go across borders because it is not going to come from within Syria itself. So my two final questions for the Minister are: how do Her Majesty’s Government hope to assist in the humanitarian effort, and how can the fighting be stopped? Unless there is a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities within Syria, the killings and traumas are going to carry on and the humanitarian disaster that we are witnessing will continue.
Middle East Peace Settlement
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(10 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD)
My Lords, I will first echo my noble friend Lord Carrington’s comments about Ariel Sharon; I shall not dwell on the matter more than that. I will address the question raised by the noble Lord, Lord Soley, and perhaps flesh out some of the things he did not have time to go into in his speech.
The EU Foreign Affairs Council announced in December that in the event of a peace agreement it would offer both Israel and a future Palestinian state a special privileged partnership with the EU, including increased access to European markets, closer cultural and scientific links, facilitation of trade and investments, promotion of business-to-business relations and enhanced political dialogue and security co-operation.
The council also said that the EU would,
“contribute substantially to post-conflict arrangements for ensuring the sustainability of a peace agreement. The Council will work on concrete proposals, including by building on previous work undertaken on EU contributions to Palestinian state-building, regional issues, refugees, security and Jerusalem.”
We constantly hear a lot about what Israel must do to reach a peace settlement, such as stopping the expansion of settlements—the list of actions that Israel should take goes on. I have no problem with some of these demands, but demands should also be made of the Palestinians as, without give and take on both sides, no progress will be made.
The UK Government and the EU frequently endorse a key Palestinian demand with regard to the 1967 lines being the basis for a territorial agreement. They have not acknowledged one of Israel’s key concerns: namely, that an agreement must be along the lines of two states for two peoples, as my noble friend Lord Carrington outlined. It is important to set realistic expectations for both sides regarding the end game, and in particular to reassure the Israelis that a peace agreement will secure, not threaten, Israel as the only state in the world with a Jewish majority.
What does Israel see? The glorification of terrorism and violence in the Palestinian Authority and Hamas media, along with a denial of the Jewish connection to the land and any right to statehood. That sends out a very negative message to Israel about Palestinian intentions regarding a negotiated two-state solution, which we all want. Israel’s public support for talks is high, but faith in the Palestinian partner is, sadly—whether correctly or incorrectly—very low. This is a considerable source of concern, particularly when there seem to be continued Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
Given the role of the EU as a financial supporter of the PA, to which the noble Lord, Lord Soley, rightly drew the attention of the House, could it not do more to pressurise the Palestinian Authority to address that problem? Will Ministers consider strengthening public statements regarding the glorification of violence against Israel in the Palestinian media? That is the way forward to the two-state solution that we all want.
UN Arms Trade Treaty
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(11 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Warsi
I think the noble Lord asked three questions. Yes, I can absolutely add my support and congratulations to all the Foreign Secretaries, and indeed all Ministers, many from the Opposition, who have worked over seven years to make this happen. Of course, my congratulations go to my right honourable friend Mr Burt, who handled this towards the end, and to Alan Duncan. Negotiations went on long into the evenings to make sure that it happened—and, of course, it has been a huge success.
The treaty will be signed as soon as possible. We are hoping that it can be done by the Foreign Secretary, and we are looking at opportunities for how that will happen. It is really a matter of getting a balance to make sure that it is as near to 3 June as possible as well as at the highest level.
I missed most of the noble Lord’s third question, but I think it was in relation to getting the broadest support from member states. Of course, this treaty will come into force only once 50 states have signed it and 90 days thereafter have passed. So we will do all we can to encourage that.
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
My Lords, the United Nations press release says that the treaty makes it,
“harder for human rights abusers, criminals and arms traffickers to obtain weapons”.
How does that fit in with the UK defence industry and the sales of arms, equipment and aircraft to other states?
Baroness Warsi
As the noble Lord is aware, the UK already has one of the most robust and effective export control systems in the world. I regularly see documentation on the countries for which I have responsibility. We have extensive criteria against which we assess any sales. We feel that this arms trade treaty sets an international benchmark, but we do not think that primary legislation will be required to enable us to implement it.
Israel: Arab Citizens
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(12 years ago)
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Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
My Lords, the previous time I spoke in the same debate as the right reverend Prelate was a year ago when your Lordships’ House debated Christianity in the Middle East. I remember his words in December 2011 when he said,
“almost every community-Muslims, Christians, Jews; Arabs, Kurds, Copts, Israelis, Palestinians and Turks-seeing themselves, with some justification, as a minority”.
He also said,
“the primary victims of religious extremism in the Muslim world are other Muslims”.—[Official Report, 9/12/11; col. 934.]
Sadly, to be a Jew in most countries of the region is not comfortable or even possible in many places. Indeed, Christians such as the Copts of Egypt are under severe pressure. Like the noble Lord, Lord Bew, I declare an interest: I am vice-president of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, and I welcome the right reverend Prelate’s good intentions and masses of facts within his speech. As a Liberal Democrat, I must declare that I am against any unequal society, wherever it is.
The right reverend Prelate told mainly a story of a half-empty glass. I will try to tell a story of a half-full glass and how the Israeli Government, unlike their neighbours, are working hard to improve the situation of their minorities—in my view, not quickly enough; the sooner it happens the better. Israel’s Arab population is about 20% of the whole and numbers 1.7 million. They are citizens, as the right reverend Prelate called them. The reason we call them Israeli Arab citizens is that that is the title used by the right reverend Prelate. Personally, I call them all “Israelis”. They are all Israelis, they have rights and they should have all those rights.
As an example of a half-full glass, in 2010 Israel approved a $220 million five-year development plan for 13 Arab cities and towns, including $30 million for the expansion of public transportation. The plan is actually being implemented by the Authority for the Economic Development for Arab, Druze and Circassian Sectors, based in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, and is focused on 12 specific Arab and Druze localities, including Nazareth and Rahat—I will not detail them all. The Israeli Government are also allocating funds for 13 industrial parks in Arab communities.
There are some real examples of action being taken. Prime Minister Netanyahu recognised the deficiencies in the workforce and stated earlier this year—I know it is only a statement but he said it—that:
“The Arab sector is a main growth engine for the Israeli economy”—
as mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Parekh, a moment ago—
“which has yet to be fully utilised, and I believe that their integration into the labour market will contribute not only to the Arab sector, but to the State of Israel as a whole”.
In July 2012, the Israeli Government launched a new affirmative action campaign to encourage companies, especially in the high-tech sector, to employ Israeli Arabs, with the Government contributing 25% of their salary. The hope is that this will encourage companies which are, as has been mentioned, reluctant to take on Arab employees to do so. Once this had been done, it will reduce discrimination in the workplace. In June 2012, the Israeli Government launched a public awareness campaign against prejudice and discrimination by Israeli companies against Arabs. That cannot be tolerated. Also in June 2012, Cisco chief executive officer John Chambers announced a four-year plan to create 12,000 new technology jobs for Israeli Arabs. He said:
“We have an opportunity to show the rest of the world what we can do together with a government that really gets it and with citizens who really get it”.
I would have hoped that the right reverend Prelate and other noble Lords, while detailing the inequalities—which do exist—would at least have mentioned some of the actions being taken to rectify those problems. As has been mentioned, there are numerous organisations inside and outside Israel trying to rectify those problems. That will take time but they should be given credit for so doing.
This is all against a background of Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader, on his very recent visit to Gaza, referring to the liberation of Palestine in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa while the crowds yelled, “Hit, hit Tel Aviv”. This is also at a time when 40,000 have been killed in Syria without a demonstration in the UK. Nor were there Motions in this House when Hamas shot men accused of being Israeli spies without even the pretence of a trial. Their bodies were then dragged through the street behind motorcycles. I am not saying that there are not inequalities for Israeli Arabs—or Israeli Palestinians if you want—that need to be dealt with and are being dealt with, but perhaps we should also reflect on the bloody conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims, the hounding of the Christian Coptic community in Egypt, the unrest in a number of Middle Eastern states and the toppling of regimes.
In Israel, Arabs have served as elected representatives in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, since Israel’s first elections in 1949. There are currently 17 Israeli Arabs and Druze in the Knesset out of a Chamber of 120, although that is short of the 24 which under strict proportional terms would reflect the numbers of the Arab-Israeli population. There are many Israeli Arab judges. The noble Lord, Lord Bew, mentioned one of them. They include Israeli Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran and George Kara—he has been mentioned—who presided in the Tel Aviv district court that convicted former Israeli President Katsav.
Israel’s first Muslim consul general was appointed in Atlanta in 1997; Israel’s first Muslim ambassador was appointed to Finland in 1995; Israel’s first Druze ambassador was appointed to Vietnam in 1999; in 2004 Bnei Sakhnin was the first Arab Israeli football team to win the State Cup; and—still on the soccer theme—the Arab Israeli football star Walid Badir is the captain of Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Arab-Israeli Mira Awad represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest; and the Arab Israeli Rana Raslan was Miss Israel.
Do noble Lords remember the amazing time—amazing to me and I am sure to everyone else—when Majalli Wahabi, a Druze, was the acting President of Israel? Noble Lords may have read the Bedouin Israeli diplomat Ishmael Khaldi’s book A Shepherd's Journey. In academia there are Bedouin professors and others whom I do not have enough time to relate.
Of course, if there was no problem, no action would be required. The reasons advanced for the standard of living for Israeli Arabs being generally lower than the Jewish and Christian Israeli population are poorer participation in education and the failure of women to take up employment. I will tell your Lordships’ House the following sad statistics: twice as many Muslims leave school without qualification; three times as many are unemployed; three times as many live below the poverty line. I should add that these sad figures are not in Israel but in Britain. It is sad here and it is sad there.
The reasons for inequalities in Israel, Britain and elsewhere are generally due to education, employment and where you are in the food chain of life. The aim in Israel and the UK is to improve the conditions of all by improving opportunities for a better life.
Finally, it would be good if the right reverend Prelate could also acknowledge that 850,000 Jews have been forcibly displaced and exiled from Arab countries since 1948, and that justice for such Jewish refugees from Arab countries has been expunged from the peace and justice narrative for the past 65 years.
I trust that when my noble friend the Minister replies she will say how Her Majesty’s Government will acknowledge inequalities and discrimination worldwide—not just in Israel—and not just the accusations against Israel made in this debate.
UK-Israel Life Sciences Council
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(12 years ago)
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Baroness Warsi
My Lords, the UK Government have made their position on boycotts clear. We do not hesitate to express disagreement with Israel whenever we feel it is necessary, but we also enjoy a close and productive relationship with Israel. It is this very relationship that allows us to have the frank discussions that are often necessary between friends. We believe that imposing boycotts would lessen that influence, not increase it.
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that joint business initiatives between Palestinians and Israelis could play a valuable role in encouraging diplomatic engagement between both peoples? What role does the Minister consider that the Government can play in supporting such efforts, very much within what the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, has said about the UK-Israel Life Sciences Council’s work?
Baroness Warsi
As the noble Lord will be aware, the UK-Israel Life Sciences Council is a group of top scientists from both countries and includes Members of your Lordships’ House as well as, I think, four Nobel Prize winners. I think that all noble Lords would agree that we are at a very delicate stage in the Middle East peace process. As I have said from this Dispatch Box on many occasions in the past few weeks, 2013 will be a critical year. It is therefore important that we use whatever avenues we have to strengthen those diplomatic relations to achieve a peaceful resolution to a two-state solution in the Middle East.
Palestine: United Nations General Assembly Resolution
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(12 years ago)
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Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, asked a very important and interesting Question. My noble friend Lord Alderdice referred to the United Nations vote in 1947. Many people seem surprised that the UK abstained in the vote to upgrade the status of Palestine at the UN. However, students of history will appreciate—this has not yet been pointed out—that this abstention follows the precedent of Britain abstaining in the 1947 vote on the UN partition plan leading to the creation of the State of Israel. Some things do not change. It has always been a foregone conclusion at this time of the United Nations that a large majority of nations, including the Islamic and non-aligned states, would vote in favour of the UN’s de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. Some things have changed since 1947.
We can achieve the desirable result of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel only by joint negotiations between the two parties. I quote from a newspaper this weekend, which stated:
“Mr Abbas has said he will not return to talks, which were broken off in 2010, without a freeze in settlement building, ignoring Israeli calls for a resumption of negotiations without preconditions”.
I am against the expansion of settlements. However, even an amateur prophet could have predicted that the Israeli reaction to the UN vote would be to announce the approval of construction of new settler homes. The E1 proposed area which the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, referred to only has preliminary zoning and planning. Although that is bad enough, it is not actually in the building stage.
I hope that Her Majesty's Government will stress to the Palestinian leadership—which is the point of the noble Baroness’s Question—that if it wants to stop the building, it had better get to the negotiating table as quickly as possible. Surely Mr Abbas does not want the same said about him as was said about Mr Arafat: that he lost no opportunity to lose an opportunity. The man who said that, Abba Eban, an Israeli Foreign Secretary, also once said that if Algeria introduced a General Assembly resolution that the world was flat and Israel had flattened it, it would pass 100 to 10 with about 50 abstentions.
President Abbas is requesting recognition for a state half of which he does not even control. Since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2006, Mr Abbas, as far as I know, has not visited there even once. The resolution pushes further away the prospects for peace. The only way to achieve peace is through direct negotiations, and I hope that my noble friend the Minister will stress this to both sides. Unfortunately for ordinary Palestinians, they will see little gain from the UN achievement. The Gaza Strip will remain under the rule of Hamas. The move seems more likely to undermine prospects for reviving the peace process, as described eloquently by my noble friend Lord Alderdice, except for one redeeming feature; namely, improving President Abbas’s reputation on the Arab street. Not negotiating with Israel has been Mr Abbas’s choice in recent years, whether due to his distrust of Israel or due to his own unwillingness to make compromises. The move to the UN looks more like a continuing strategy to avoid negotiations and not a way to revive them.
When Mr Abbas first laid out his ambitions 18 months ago in the New York Times, he made it clear that he would use Palestine’s new status to try to confront Israel in international legal forums. That is not exactly conducive to peace. More than ever, Mr Abbas needed a domestic political win. This has only been heightened since the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Palestinian Authority had become largely irrelevant in the international theatre until the UN vote.
It must be noted that, in the past, the quiet co-operation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has led to some genuine progress—not enough by a long way but some at least. What is needed is a de-escalation of tensions and a period in which each side commits, publicly or privately, not to take steps which antagonise the other, whether it is expanding settlements, which I disagree with absolutely, on the Israeli side, or unilateral moves in international organisations or legal bodies on the Palestinian side—and of course a cessation of hostilities from either side of the border.
If I was a public adviser to the Israelis, I certainly would not have advised them to announce the building of more settlements and a holding-back of taxation revenues. Perhaps I would have advised them to concentrate on what Israel does internationally in helping with world relief. When a massive earthquake struck Haiti, Israel was one of the first and most effective responders, using its undoubted technological know-how and experience for the benefit of others. Perhaps noble Lords have forgotten that, during Israel’s stay in Haiti, the medical delegation treated more than 1,110 patients, conducted 319 successful surgeries and delivered 16 births including three in Caesarean section. The IDF search and rescue force also performed very well. On irrigation projects around the world—the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, spoke about the conference that he organised the other day—Israel is a world leader in water technology to develop new water sources, use the water that we have most efficiently and recycle waste water. We need more desalination plants around the Middle East and not just in Israel. On aid or advice to other regimes, according to MASHAV, an Israeli organisation, Israel has used its expertise to transform agriculture from traditional subsistence to sophisticated market-oriented production. It is for this reason that many countries in the developing world have sought partnership with Israel in addressing their agricultural challenges. Since 1958, MASHAV has trained in Israel and abroad almost 200,000 course participants from approximately 140 countries and has developed dozens of demonstration projects worldwide in fields of expertise.
If I were one of those mythical public relations consultants, perhaps I would also talk about the life-saving technology which has emanated from Israel. It is hard to know where to start. Hadassah University and the Weizmann Institute have produced scientists and Nobel laureates responsible for the research and development of important medical advances and life-saving techniques. Israel leads the world in stem cell research, with important breakthroughs in repairing tissues and organs damaged by Parkinson’s disease. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, headquartered in Israel, is the largest generic drug manufacturer in the world and has made an incredible effort in helping to combat diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. Israel has broken ground in fertility treatment. There is the neuromedical electrical stimulation system, a glove-like device that can help paralysed people; there is imaging technology; and there is help for cancer patients and nanotechnology.
The responses from Israel on settlement expansion and tax revenues do not help, but they must be seen in a context where the Palestinians refuse to sit and negotiate and have taken a unilateral step which aggravates the situation. Israel has said time and again that it wants a two-state solution, as referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Janner. I ask Her Majesty’s Government and all parties to do as my noble friend Lord Alderdice said and work to a regional solution where all parties get people to the negotiating table. It is not too late to do so. There is a chance for a two-state solution, but it is up to us, Her Majesty’s Government and other Governments to help by getting the two sides to that table to negotiate before it is too late.
Middle East: Gaza and Syria
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(12 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Warsi
These discussions are ongoing. I know that there are specific discussions with a number of states, including the United States, on how progress can be made. It is up to individual nations to go through that process but what has been important in recent weeks is the way in which the various opposition forces have managed to come together to form some sort of coherence as to initial progress and what can be done in the immediate future. It was right that while we built that relationship and before we formally recognised it, we sought specific assurances in this House. Many noble Lords have raised concerns about human rights abuses that have been committed in Syria on all sides. If Her Majesty’s Government are to be engaged with a recognised Opposition, it is right that they seek some specific assurances beforehand.
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for the Statement that she read. I have only one small point and I will not take too long to make it. Can the Government not look on this disastrous situation as an opportunity? Opportunities come out of disasters and this is an opportunity to get not only the Americans to act, as the Minister suggested, but the Arab League. There was an Arab League initiative to bring both parties to the negotiating table without any preconditions whatever. The noble Lord, Lord Hannay, said it was Prime Minister Netanyahu who has refused to come to the negotiating table. Some of us would disagree with that. Let us put it to the test by getting the Americans and the Arab League to get people to come to the negotiating table now, to talk about not truces and ceasefires but a durable situation where there is a genuine cessation of hostilities.
Baroness Warsi
The noble Lord raises an important point. There is a famous saying in Urdu which loosely translates as, “It rarely rains when the fires are raging”. To try to reach final agreement on these matters when there is a crisis is difficult. It is important to have the agreed ceasefire. Foreign Ministers from the Arab League have been meeting in the region. Egypt and Turkey have been playing an extremely important role in trying to negotiate that. As part of that initial discussion to resolve the current crisis, discussions are ongoing in relation to a long-term solution.
Middle East: Recent Developments
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(12 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend the Minister for his wide-ranging introduction to the debate.
If one is to focus on good omens today—Friday, 13 July—one positive straw in the wind might be Libya’s recent election results. Mahmoud Jibril’s National Forces Alliance appears to have won the elections. We are told by experts that that is good news for the forces of secularism and democracy. Mahmoud Jibril headed Libya’s National Transitional Council from August to October 2011. However, before we get too elated by his election, we might note that an Amnesty International report on torture states:
“A Libyan Government headed by Mr Jibril has it all to prove on questions of democratic reform and human rights, as is the case for new post-despotic regimes across the region”.
My noble friend Lord Lamont referred to a comment made by Dr Kissinger. I would add that we must move on from Dr Kissinger’s comment, in another context, that:
“He may be a despot, but he’s our despot”.
It is excellent that the UK coalition Government are spending £40 million on the Arab Partnership Participation Fund,
“for political reform, supporting free and fair elections, stronger parliaments, media and judiciaries”,
in countries across the region. Last year, in a speech on the Arab spring, the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said:
“Successful revolutions may change the world overnight. But, in many ways, it’s the morning after that the real work begins”.
Noble Lords will not be surprised if I say something about Israel and the Palestinians. In that context, I declare that I am a vice-president of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel. In a debate that is not specifically about Israel but about the Middle East in general, I am keen to avoid the trap of focusing only on Israel/Palestine. The region faces a great many challenges of which—as the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, said—the Israel-Palestine peace process is only one.
I was going to talk about Iran but the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, and my noble friend Lady Falkner have provided a forensic analysis of the situation which makes anything that I could say probably superfluous. I would add just one comment. I am pleased that, on 21 June, the Minister for the Armed Forces, Nick Harvey, said:
“Threats or attempts to block the Strait of Hormuz show a contempt for international law as it is seen by the majority of the states in the region, if not the world … Any attempt by Iran to do this would be illegal and … unsuccessful”.
I turn from Iran to recent developments in Egypt, which my noble friend Lord Anderson commented on. Amid the uprisings that led to Mubarak’s ousting a power vacuum emerged in Sinai which was quickly filled by Jihadists from mainland Egypt and neighbouring Gaza. The worry in the region is that the new President of Egypt and his Muslim Brotherhood party have promised to revise the Egypt-Israel peace treaty—whatever that means.
The consequence for Israel is that its once peaceful border with Egypt has turned dangerous, and the situation in Sinai has allowed increased weapons-smuggling into Gaza. More importantly, the Sinai peninsula has become a launch pad for terrorist attacks, such as the killing of an Israeli worker on 18 June. A cell of approximately four terrorists planted and detonated a roadside bomb beside jeeps carrying workers via the border, killing Said Fashpashe, an Israeli construction worker. The recent escalation in violence along the Sinai-Israel border has worried many and could be part of a conscious effort to establish the Sinai as a new base for Jihad operations.
My plea in your Lordships’ House is that balance is needed. This has come through in a number of speeches from noble Lords. I give an example of bad balance. On Monday this week, the General Synod of the Church of England passed a motion to support the work of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, or EAPPI, a project of the World Council of Churches. EAPPI sends participants as accompaniers to the West Bank for three to four and a half months, with less than a week scheduled in Israel. The accompaniers’ role is to witness and recall Palestinian life on the West Bank, such as at checkpoints and Israeli defence actions. I am certainly not justifying all that Israel does, but this creates a one-sided understanding of the conflict. On their return the ecumenical accompaniers, or EAs, have to fulfil at least 10 speaking commitments, and reports back from several of those meetings have been that they are biased and have propagated anti-Israel sentiment. Their literature has suggested hacking government websites and a cultural and artistic boycott of Israel which helps no one. It is unhelpful in understanding what is truly a complex situation, as many noble Lords have said.
There is another way—that sounds like a political statement. The Proms begin tonight, and it is heart-warming to see the West-Eastern Divan youth orchestra playing, which includes Palestinian musicians from the West Bank and musicians from Israel. They are ambassadors that help an eventual peace to arrive.
I would have liked the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, to be in the Chamber. She spoke once before, eloquently, and did so again today, about what she has witnessed in the West Bank. The last time she left before I spoke—perhaps she can read it in Hansard. Yes, there are problems and she witnessed them, and that is it. But the economy of the West Bank to which she and other noble Lords have referred has actually percentagewise increased. In this country we would envy the percentage increase of that economy, albeit from a low level. But it is an increase, and those who that decry it are not seeing the effects of what many participants have managed to achieve.
Comments were made about water, which is a dreadful problem in the area. Of course, it is a problem. Israel perhaps takes more than its share from the aquifers in the area, but it has moved on with massive desalination projects which are now providing the vast majority of water to Israel. I pray that in that region desalination projects could exist on the coast of Gaza, which the Israelis could help to set up to solve a problem of water that will not be solved by just relying on aquifers.
The problem raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, and the noble Lord, Lord Watson, was about expansion of settlements. As a Jew and a pro-Israeli, I am against the expansion of settlements. They do not help the peace process. However, the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, referred to 500,000 settlers in the settlements, which is true and not true. Half of those are in the three or four large towns just on the wrong side of the 1967 truce line. All those who know about the borders that will arise know that those towns or settlements will be within Israel when the border is finally agreed, with a land swap to the Palestinians from mainland Israel. So we are talking about half that number of settlers. Those settlers should not be there and should not expand their settlements, but let us not quote statistics that are not really true.
People talk about a boycott, but boycotts in this region will help no one. We want to encourage trade, as the noble Lord, Lord Haskel, said, and the intellectual knowledge that comes out of Israel that is used in many countries around the world. Consider the heart of Intel computers—the research and development has been in Israel. We should build on such things, not talk about boycotts. The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, talked about other problems, perhaps understating the effect of rocket attacks on places such as Sdot and Ashkelon. Those attacks make people feel incredibly insecure.
My questions to the Minister are: have the protests and uprisings affected the politics of the strategic situation? Have they hindered or advanced the ability of the Palestinians, the Israelis, the people in other Arab countries and the other key players in the region to make peace? How has the recent escalation in violence on the Sinai-Israeli border affected the Israel-Palestine-Egypt process? We should be striving for balance in the Middle East, not endorsing one-sided rhetoric or actions from whichever side.
Queen’s Speech
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(12 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Palmer of Childs Hill
My Lords, in the area of defence, we received the welcome news that under the coalition the defence budget is now at last under control. We know which aircraft we are going to use; we know which ships are in, or will be in, service; and we know what equipment our forces will deploy. The trouble is: have we forecast what conflicts we will need to cope with? Are our forces, who are equipped to fight in Afghanistan, able to use the same equipment in a conflict with a vastly different terrain and climate? Are we treating our service personnel decently, as was debated by your Lordships during the passage of the Armed Forces Bill? Are we ready to provide the housing that is required by service men and women coming back to the UK from Afghanistan and Germany? Are those obliged to leave the armed services prepared for civilian life?
One area of strife that we debate and debate in this House is the Middle East. British rule and influence have historically been strong, whether in running Egypt at the turn of the century or the Palestine mandate. This month, as mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord King of Bridgwater, has seen a threatening hunger strike about conditions of detention in Israeli jails brought to a welcome end that was brokered significantly by the Egyptians. This month has seen a remarkable coalition Government—in this instance, I do not refer to the UK but Israel—where the two largest parties, Likud and Kadima, have come together with others to form a strong coalition Government that could have the will and power to further the peace process. This month has also seen one of that Government’s first acts, in seeking negotiations with the Palestinians without any preconditions. I can only hope that our Government do all they can to encourage both sides to the negotiating table and to hammer out a lasting peace formula that will give the Palestinians a sovereign state, sitting alongside a secure state of Israel. It is a fact that neither side will get all that it wants, but that is the price of negotiation and compromise.
The noble Lord, Lord Wood of Anfield, said a lot with which I agree on this subject. However, he mentioned admission to the United Nations. I also wish to celebrate, in time, the admission of the Palestinian state to the United Nations. However, I believe that it is a prize you receive by sitting down at the negotiating table. You do not get your prizes ahead of sitting down. That is the price of negotiation. But I will be there cheering that admission when it takes place.
The noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, spoke very eloquently and movingly about alleged wrongs and so on. In the time I have for this speech, I cannot deal with her comments—I hope she understands. I throw into the melting pot that wrongs always go around, and one fact that, of the 850,000 Jews who fled Arab lands, 600,000 found a place to stay in Israel. A lot of problems can be sorted out only by sitting down at the negotiating table.
There was welcome news a few hours ago that President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has made new innovative appointments to a Cabinet, which may be part of the formula at the moment. A former leader of the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat, was once said to miss no opportunity to miss an opportunity. This should be a time when we actually take that opportunity. There are people who say that the Netanyahu Government of Israel are not sincere in what they say about sitting down at the negotiating table without any preconditions. My advice to everybody—Israelis and Palestinians—is, “Sit down; trust that sincerity and see whether it is there”. If you do not actually sit down and have negotiations between people who are nominally against each other, or who are against each other, you will never succeed.
We often debate people’s rights across the region—those of Christians, Jews, women, gay people, different types of Muslims, Kurds and other ethnic minorities. It is right that the Queen’s Speech, as referred to by my noble friend the Minister, expresses the Government’s ongoing desire to support such rights across the Middle East and north Africa. In 2011-12, the UK Government funded projects to increase women’s political participation in Egypt, protect freedom of expression in Tunisia, increase young people’s role in policy formulation in Morocco, bring prisons up to international human rights standards in Algeria, and support public service broadcasting in Iraq. That was not just morally the right thing to do but in our national interest in terms of prosperity and security.
On 9 December last year, we debated the desperate plight of Christians in the Middle East. I took part in that debate, as did the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbi. It is appalling how Christians are treated in so many countries in the Middle East, and we often stand by and say nothing about it. Much of the discrimination and prejudice comes from Governments themselves, including in the Middle East and north Africa. I therefore applaud the fact that Her Majesty’s Government will support the extension of political and economic freedom in countries in transition in the Middle East and north Africa.
Other noble Lords have spoken about the problem of Iran. Her Majesty said that her Government will work,
“to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation, including in Iran”.
Iran’s ambition to be a regional power makes it a meddler and a sponsor of terrorism in the region and beyond. Just this week, Iran stands accused of smuggling arms into Syria. Should such a regime gain nuclear weapons, the region’s other Governments would feel that they must also have such weapons, sparking an arms race that would drag in many countries in the wider world, from Europe to Latin America. It is vital that we use all peaceful means to prevent such an outcome.
Israel: Palestinian Hunger Strikers
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts(12 years, 7 months ago)
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Lord Howell of Guildford
I do not know enough about precise cause and effect but I certainly agree with the noble Lord that the settlements issue is a really sore point—a really poisonous one, if you like. We regard the extension of the settlements as illegal and settlement activities that press into Palestine as unhelpful and illegal. I agree with the noble Lord that if that were to stop, it would certainly open some of the doors to a negotiation.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde)
My Lords, we have gone beyond 30 minutes.