Christians in the Middle East

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Friday 9th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, all speakers in this debate must deplore the long-standing and continuing decline of the indigenous Christian communities in the Middle East. Much of this has been due to what has been described as “creeping Islamisation”; some has also been due to economic causes. Some of the worst cases, such as the decimation of the Armenian, Syrian Orthodox and Nestorian communities in Anatolia, date back to the days of the Ottoman Empire and beyond.

I want to concentrate today on two current cases where the decline of the Christian population has been, at least indirectly, due to western policies or the failure of western policies. The first is Iraq, where the misjudged invasion eight years ago has led to the distressing reduction of some of the oldest Christian communities in the world—communities which, in many cases, long predate Islam. Statistics vary, but it seems to be agreed that a community that numbered some 1.5 million before 2003 has now fallen to less than 500,000 today, and a steady exodus continues.

The second case, to which I have drawn your Lordships’ attention several times over the past year, is the appalling treatment of Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem as a result of discriminatory Israeli housing and planning policies that affect Muslims and Christians alike. Israeli abuse of the Christian Palestinian community is not the only problem that they have to endure. In the area of Israeli-occupied Bethlehem, where Christians made up some 85 per percent of the population a generation ago, and where the Christian population is now said to be less than 15 per cent of the total, extreme Islamists have made life for the Christians even worse than it was already, with all the frustrations and indignities caused by the occupation.

But the failure of the quartet, and particularly of the United States, to bring any effective pressure to bear on Mr Netanyahu's Government is a shameful consequence of the failure of the United States Administration, and of Congress, to realise the damaging effect of their supine acceptance of the Israeli Government's blatant flouting of international law in both Jerusalem and the other occupied territories. It is tragic that even the President of the United States is unable to reverse the Judaisation of East Jerusalem or the illegal and continuing settlement policies of the Netanyahu Government.

In criticising the treatment by the Israeli authorities of their Christian communities, I pay tribute to the many brave Israelis who deplore and publicly demonstrate against the ill treatment of their Christian and Muslim neighbours. I would also like to mention my own recollection of Muslim Palestinian friends in Saudi Arabia who remembered fondly their experience of celebrating Christmas in the Holy Land with their Christian neighbours. One of the tragedies of the present situation in the Middle East is that radicalism and fundamentalism across all three Abrahamic faiths has made tolerance of that sort a rarity.

Syria

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

The short answer to my noble friend is yes. Those are very important points and have certainly been brought to the fore in all these discussions, including those that took place only a few hours ago between my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary and several opposition leaders in Syria. Our view is that minorities would be best protected if the Syrian Government themselves would stop their violent and oppressive activities and the slaughter of many of their citizens, and at every point we have sought to encourage the opposition leaders to engage with minorities and maintain non-sectarian approaches as far as they conceivably can.

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

Perhaps I may remind the Minister of a question that I asked on 8 June this year, in which I warned of the danger of calling for the overthrow of a system of government that is, for all its faults, a secular system of government. On that point, I endorse very much what the noble Lord, Lord Risby, has said. The Minister may have heard on the BBC very recently the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo making precisely that warning. Does the Minister agree that while we are absolutely right to continue to put pressure on the Syrian Government to respect human rights, to which they are of course fully committed under the international convention on human rights, we should nevertheless watch with caution the motives of some other Governments who are calling for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, not so much because of the slaughter of civilians on the Syrian streets but because the Syrian Government are an ally of both Iran and Hezbollah?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

The noble Lord is absolutely right that there are many complexities, risks and concerns, both in keeping the present regime and, indeed, in the removal of it. Who knows whether the violence and horrors of the present situation will evaporate and be removed by a replacement? There may well be difficulties ahead. However, we are encouraged by the fact that the Arab League has taken the position it has, of criticising and challenging the Syrian Government—indeed, of expelling them from the Arab League—and taking a very firm stand for the future. We want to see the Arab League take a lead on the whole Syrian situation and indeed we are working at the United Nations to see that it has a stronger say so that we can mobilise the full force of the global community for change.

Palestine: UN General Assembly

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to respond to any bid by the Palestinians for Palestinian statehood at the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford)]

My Lords, we have been clear that a Palestinian state is a legitimate goal and the best way of achieving this is through a comprehensive agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinian action at the UN looks increasingly likely. We are working with partners to build a consensus on a way forward that recognises the progress the Palestinians have made in their state-building efforts, that meets Israel’s legitimate security concerns, and that avoids confrontation in the UN. Whatever action is taken in New York it is important that this increases the prospects for a return to negotiations. This is our goal and it is President Abbas’s goal as well. We have reserved our position on outright recognition and will take a decision nearer the time if needed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. Does he accept that giving Palestine statehood does not in itself—and would not in itself—preclude future negotiations with the Israeli Government? Given that there is widespread acceptance of the concept of a two-state solution, with shared capitals in Jerusalem, is not recognition of a Palestinian state entirely logical? I also ask the Minister whether he accepts that whatever decision our European, American or quartet colleagues take on this matter, Britain—the governing power of Palestine until the time of partition in 1948—has a particular moral duty to support the revival of a recognised state for the Palestinians living in peace and security with the state of Israel.

I hope your Lordships will allow me to add a very short, sad but highly topical postscript to this Question. Some of you may have read in the Times this morning an obituary of the wife of the Palestinian ambassador in London, to whom I offer my condolences. That obituary states that Mrs Hassassian, who was a permanent arguer for Palestinian rights, was not allowed to open a Palestinian stall at the international diplomatic fair in Kensington a few years ago because Palestine was not a country. I hope that nonsenses of that sort are now in the past.

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I am grateful to the noble Lord and, of course, I share and we must all share in the condolences which he touches upon. As to his earlier questions and propositions, I agree with most of them. However, the question hangs in the air, and I hope it will be resolved, as to whether action at the United Nations will enable that move to statehood to take place. That is what we all want and that is what must proceed. We hope that action at the UN will open up a better pathway to negotiation, but if it was the opposite and it led to confrontation—if more business there closed down negotiation—then it clearly would not be such a good thing. We just have to wait and see what the texts are, how the matter is going to be approached—whether through the General Assembly or the UN Security Council—and then we will take our decision.

Syria

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

My noble friend makes an extremely good point which has certainly occurred to me in discussions with senior Chinese diplomats. The traditional or conventional stance of the Chinese authorities and Chinese Government is that they do not interfere in foreign countries. The reality is that because of extended Chinese influence and involvement throughout the world, whether the Chinese authorities like it or not, they are involved and do have to move towards taking a responsible position as they become a world force and a world power, an active member of the World Trade Organisation and a responsible authority and influence in the world. If this is the role that they want to play, they will have to be involved in a much more positive way, as my noble friend says.

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, it is now 30 years since I left Damascus as British ambassador to Syria. Of course I accept that we are absolutely right to condemn these appalling reports on what is happening in Syria, just as I hope that we condemned in 1982 similar reports of terrible massacres of people in Hama under the present president’s father’s rule. However, does the Minister accept that whatever its other faults, Ba’athism as a system of government is a secular system of government? I believe, and I hope that the Minister agrees, that we should be extremely careful to do nothing that could desecularise that wonderful country.

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

Those are clearly very wise remarks. I suspect that the noble Lord has more experience than I do of exactly how we reacted to the atrocious murders in Hama in 1982, which were conducted by the brother of the then president, Hafiz al-Assad. The noble Lord is right that Syria is a secular pattern. It is also a tribal pattern, and the tribal and family groups who have ruled Syria are of course not a majority; they are a minority, among many others. They have ruled by methods that we regard as reprehensible, and that are becoming even more so. I accept the noble Lord’s analysis that one could see a very serious disintegration of a country of many tribes and various religious groups and, indeed, a pattern that could develop a far greater infection of jihadism and extreme religious activity. For the moment we will have to see how events unfold. We hope that they will take a better course, but at present there is not much room for optimism.

Israel and Palestine

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

My noble friend is quite right that now ought to be exactly the right time. It ought to be very much more the time than was the case even a few weeks ago. However, we have to face the reality that obviously the Israeli Government feel extremely nervous and uncertain about what is to happen in Egypt, while we are urging more decisive action and firm decisions. Still, that does not deter us at all from pushing very hard on this central issue.

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

One month ago, today on 3 February and later on 11 February, I asked in this House whether the Government would upgrade the status of the Palestinian general delegation in London. Does the Minister agree, when I ask that question again, that it would in fact be a small but important signal of the Government’s support for a Palestinian state as the result of a two-state solution?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I agree it is a very important matter, worth considering, but I am afraid my answer at the moment to the noble Lord is that we are still looking at it—in a positive light and in light of the need to upgrade the negotiations and get momentum behind them—but we have not reached a decision yet.

Middle East and North Africa

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Friday 11th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, I also thank the Government for allowing us to have this debate, and congratulate the Minister on his masterly survey of dramatic events in the Middle East over the past few weeks. Although attention has understandably been focused on those events, I agree with other noble Lords who have said that we must not allow this to distract us from the very real and urgent crisis facing the Middle East peace process. This is a moment of potential disaster for Israel and for the credibility of the United States Administration.

I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davies, will allow me to refer to him as my longstanding friend, but I must take issue with his remark—if I understood it correctly—that the one thing about Mr Netanyahu is that he at least has something to say. I remind the noble Lord of something that Mr Netanyahu said in 1989: that his Government should have used the world’s preoccupation with the repression of popular demonstrations in China as an opportunity to carry out mass expulsions of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories; so he has had something to say. Since that time, far from the uprooting of existing settlements, we have had an exponential increase in illegal settlement activity, including the conversion of outposts into full blown settlements and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem without adequate or effective resistance from the White House.

We have already seen how popular demonstrations in Tunisia have been followed by even greater uprisings on the streets of Cairo. Calls for freedom and democracy in Egypt, and the anger which we heard on the news this morning at President Mubarak's refusal to leave, may well spread contagion throughout the region in the short term. Even if there is not a further intifada in Palestine, the calls for action to end at last the 43 year- old occupation and oppression of the Occupied Territories are likely to resound throughout the region. Unemployment rates in Palestine, particularly among the young, are as high as any in Egypt, Yemen or elsewhere in the Arab world. Not surprisingly, there is growing disenchantment on the Arab street with the concept of a two-state solution in the Middle East peace process, and increasing anger that the United States and its fellow members of the quartet have not only allowed the so-called road map to be torn up, but continued to reward Israel by pouring in vast quantities of unconditional military and financial assistance.

There is, sadly, too much evidence that Mr Netanyahu has now been allowed to reject the concept of a Palestinian state, and the promise of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. The real ambitions of the Netanyahu Government are becoming increasingly clear to the Arab world, not through WikiLeaks—few of us are in any position to judge the accuracy of its revelations—but through evidence in the press, on the internet and on Al-Jazeera that senior members of Mr Netanyahu's Government hope to turn Israel into an expansionist and Zionist state stretching, as Mr Ehud Barak has said publicly, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan river, if not to the banks of the Euphrates, as many of Israel's supporters including the Christian right claim. Incidentally, I do not propose to go into the Palestinian papers in any detail. I suggest to the noble Lord, Lord Trimble, who is not in his place, only that the Guardian’s shock and outrage was not so much at what he described as the well known Palestinian offers. Surely what shocked the Guardian and many of us was that Mrs Livni had apparently rejected all the offers.

There is a danger that the popular revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere will encourage and strengthen the growing political influence of Islamist resistance movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah, on which Iran may well seek to increase its influence. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Desai, for putting the Muslim Brotherhood into perspective. Current events show once again the folly of the quartet in refusing to talk to Hamas, particularly now that the Israeli press has reported—perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, will be interested to hear this—a press conference by Hamas that explicitly accepts the right of Israel to exist as part of a peace settlement. The noble Baroness, Lady Falkner of Margravine, has rightly reminded us that Hamas is a pluralist organisation. I hope that the Minister might today give the House some reason to hope for a change of mind on this question.

Clearly the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood in any future Egyptian Government would have an effect, both on Egypt’s relations with Israel and on the threat of Islamist extremism elsewhere in the region. However, let us acknowledge that the Muslim Brotherhood represents for many in Egypt and throughout the Arab world entirely justified support and sympathy for the resistance to Israeli occupation, whether in Gaza or elsewhere in the Palestinian territories. If the Israeli Government have, as I believe, rejected the idea of a two-state solution, the consequences for Israel’s future, peace in the Middle East and, indeed, Israel’s existence are dire indeed. Even Israel's Zionist advocates in the United States must surely realise that the concept of two states—of Palestine and Israel living peacefully side by side—is the only hope for the future security and very existence of the state of Israel.

I have heard it claimed, as implied by the noble Lord, Lord Luce, that the other Arabs are doing too little to support the Palestinian cause. However, I remind your Lordships that it is now several years since the Arab peace initiative was launched in Mecca, calling unanimously for a return to the 1967 borders in exchange for Arab recognition of Israel’s right to live in peace and security within those borders. So far there has barely been even an acknowledgement from the Israeli or United States Governments of that remarkable display of Arab unity.

The Minister said in his introduction that this is also a time of great opportunity. Unless we and our fellow members of the European Union take drastic and urgent action to persuade Mr Netanyahu and the United States Administration to change the dangerous course on which he seems to be embarked, our own national interests in the Middle East could also be in serious danger. Memories in the Arab world are very long. The noble Lord, Lord Desai, was quite right to remind us of the Sykes-Picot agreement. I am sure I have no need to remind your Lordships of Britain’s special and historic responsibility for Palestine as the heirs to the Balfour declaration. However, I must perhaps remind some of your Lordships of a passage in the declaration, which is often overlooked and has been so tragically ignored by successive Israeli Governments, that says,

“that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.

The Foreign Secretary has rightly argued that it is not for others—whether the European Union or the United States—to interfere in the internal politics of Egypt or other sovereign states. However, the moribund Middle East peace process and Israel’s reluctance to participate in it are very much the international responsibility and interest of the European Union as a member of the quartet. I welcome, as my noble friend Lord Hannay did, the prospect of further talks between the European Union and the Israelis and Palestinians in Paris. I hope that the Minister can reassure the House that we are playing a full, if indirect, part in the efforts of the quartet, not just to get talks going again between the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators but to avert the very real and present danger for our interests if a two-state solution is seen to be no longer on the table.

On a point of detail, I argued in this House a week ago that HMG should find some way of underlining the urgency of progress towards the creation of a Palestinian state. One small way of doing that would be to upgrade the Palestinian general delegation in London to the status of a diplomatic mission. I hope that the Minister, when he winds up, will be able to tell us where that now stands.

EU: Hungarian Presidency

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Tuesday 11th January 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

My noble friend is quite right to raise this issue, which has given rise to a certain worry. The appropriate bodies, which include the European Commission and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, are reviewing the proposed legislation to check whether it complies with EU law and international norms. We look forward to hearing their findings. We place great importance on the freedom and independence of the media, obviously, and we hope that the Hungarian Government will soon resolve this issue satisfactorily and that it will not adversely affect the successful operation of the Hungarian EU presidency.

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

I draw the Minister’s attention to a robust statement, reported in the press this morning, from the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, on behalf of the European Union, strongly criticising continuing Israeli illegal settlement activity in east Jerusalem and the continuing expulsion of Palestinians from east Jerusalem. Can the Minister give us an assurance that one of the Government’s priorities over the next six months will be to continue pressure on Israel not only to stop but to reverse its illegal settlement activity in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

Yes, it is certainly one of our priorities and one of the priorities of the European Union. We all share a concern about the illegal settlements and the blockage that they are placing on the prospective progress between Israel and the Palestinians. I totally agree with the sentiments behind the noble Lord’s questions. These are matters that will have a high priority with us.

Human Rights

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Thursday 2nd December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, I shall briefly pursue two themes in the short time that we have available to us in this debate. The first relates to North Korea. My noble friend Lord Alton of Liverpool called for a new peace conference to be jointly convened by Switzerland and Britain and held in Beijing to enable North and South Korea to conclude a formal peace treaty on the precedent of the Helsinki process. Having attended the Helsinki conference in 1976, I am as aware as anyone—although perhaps we were not all fully aware at the time—of the extent to which that conference was to lead to the collapse of the totalitarian system in the Soviet empire, ending much of the violation of human rights that went with those systems. My noble friend’s proposal is one that deserves serious and urgent consideration and support.

My second theme is to draw attention once again, as I have so often in this House, to the appalling abuse of the human rights of Palestinians in Gaza, in the occupied West Bank and in east Jerusalem. I submit that this is, in some ways, even more shocking than many of the human rights abuses to which noble Lords have drawn attention in this debate, since they are violations committed by the Government of a self-proclaimed democracy who pride themselves on the rule of law, and who should be ashamed, as many of their citizens and supporters are, to have their human rights record bracketed with the monstrous regime of North Korea. Leaving aside the illegality of the growing settlements in the West Bank, and the increasing violation of human rights to which various independent reports have drawn attention during the past year, there is continuing destruction of olive groves and other means of Palestinian livelihood in the West Bank, and the destruction and blockade of roads that enable West Bank Palestinians to move from the West Bank to Jerusalem. Then there is the treatment of children in Israeli military courts, the eviction of Palestinians and the demolition of their homes in East Jerusalem and the extension of the wall, which blocks access for Palestinians to their homes, to medical care, to their place of work and, often, to their schools, thereby depriving them of their right to education, to which the noble Lord, Lord Sacks, referred so eloquently. I hope that the Minister will be able to assure the House that Her Majesty’s Government continue not only to protest to the Government of Mr Netanyahu about these violations but to join our European partners in drawing them to the attention of our American friends.

Only the United States Government have unique potential influence on the Israelis to stop these abuses, which represent a serious, and probably fatal, block on any progress towards a two-state settlement of this long-running dispute. Since this debate falls only a few days after the opening of the new European Delegation Office in Washington, I hope that this provides an opportunity for our embassy in Washington to work even more closely with our European partners to persuade the United States Administration to recognise that Israeli violation of human rights risks destroying any hope of achieving a situation whereby Israel and her Palestinian neighbour can live together in peace and mutual respect.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Educational Allowances

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I am grateful to my noble friend for that support. He is absolutely right but I shall correct him on one thing, if I may. It involves not only senior staff as 75 per cent of the children helped are of parents with quite junior salaries. The Foreign Office sends junior people to very difficult posts and they may have young children who need to be educated.

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, I declare two interests. First, I was a beneficiary of these allowances for a large part of my career. Secondly, 19 years ago I gave evidence to the noble Lord, Lord Sheldon, and the Public Accounts Committee in support of these allowances, so I am somewhat biased. Does the Minister agree that the continuation of these allowances is essential as members of the Diplomatic Service are often posted abroad with very little notice and such allowances are necessary for the uninterrupted education of their children? Does he also agree that they are very much in line with those given by practically all international companies, and so are essential if recruitment and retention in the Diplomatic Service is to be preserved?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I agree with the noble Lord, who obviously speaks with enormous authority on this subject. I would just add, referring back to my Answer to the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, that we are looking at ways of bringing the cost of this operation down. However, the basic requirement is that these children are educated; we do not want only childless diplomats. Therefore, we have had to make the provision that the noble Lord has just described. I believe that it should continue and that it is essential for an effective diplomatic effort by this country.

Afghanistan

Lord Wright of Richmond Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rowlands]

My Lords—

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords—

[Lord Judd]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I believe that the answer is 14 provinces.

[Lord Wright of Richmond]

My Lords, is the Minister able to tell the House anything about progress or otherwise on controlling the poppy crop?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I cannot say very much, except that the earlier setbacks have to some extent been corrected and I believe that we are making progress. I should like to be able to give the noble Lord a far more detailed reply but I am not in a position to do so at the moment. I shall therefore do it in writing or at some other opportunity.