Middle East and North Africa

Lord Fowler Excerpts

Friday 11th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Fowler]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Howell and the noble Baroness from the opposition Front Bench on what they said. They opened the debate in a quite outstanding way. Since then, we have heard a series of very strong speeches, not least that from the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice.

I shall be brief and make one basic point. There are those who say that the events in Cairo mean that any efforts to bring about a peace settlement in Palestine should be put on ice, that we do not know that kind of Government will evolve in Egypt or what part the Muslim Brotherhood will play, and that the security risks are too great. I take exactly the opposite view. Unless action is taken towards a two-state solution, the danger in the Middle East will increase, to the harm of the whole world.

This time last week, I was on the West Bank, in Ramallah, Hebron and Jerusalem. A few weeks previously, I had been in Gaza, entering via the crossing on the Egyptian side which is now closed. Both trips were organised by the Conservative Middle East Council. It was not remotely my first visit to the Middle East. My introduction was not quite as early as that of the noble Lord, Lord Luce—I cannot claim that it was 1947—but it came in 1967, when I was sent to report the Six-Day War. I was at the time the home affairs correspondent for the Times, so it was slightly surprising to find myself on the road from Beirut to Damascus and Oman—I was probably the only home affairs correspondent covering that war. I certainly saw the Middle East at exactly the time that has shaped events up to now.

When I go back, as I have done periodically over the years, I am tempted to say that nothing has changed and that things have only got worse. However, in at least one vital respect, that is not remotely the case. As I went over to Beirut in 1967 in a small fishing boat that we had chartered in Famagusta, we listened to fairly terrifying military music from the Arab radio stations. There was no doubt about the intent, for example, of the Egyptian forces. There was no question of recognition of Israel; the intent was annihilation. The greatest change in the past 45 years is the peace which has developed between Egypt and Israel and between Israel and Jordan. That has been a massive step forward, but the tragedy is that we have not been able to build on that foundation.

The position of Palestine is absolutely crucial for the stability of the Middle East, yet it remains as intractable as ever. We are still dithering about whether a two-state solution can be achieved and whether a degree of normality can be restored to life on the West Bank and in Gaza.

I will set out in a moment the justified concern of Israel concerning its national security, a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, but I will first set out why the position in the Occupied Territories or Gaza cannot continue indefinitely and why action needs to be taken if serious danger, perhaps catastrophic danger, is to be avoided.

Let us consider for a moment how life appears to those people living in the Occupied Territories or Gaza. In the Occupied Territories there are checkpoints and Palestinians are diverted on to side roads. There is settlement building, which still continues in East Jerusalem. There are restrictions that prevent full commercial development. It is nice for everyone to say how important trade and commerce are, but that is quite difficult if you find it impossible at times to export your goods and import the goods necessary to make the things that you make.

In Gaza, the position is much worse. There are litter-lined refugee camps that are a grim mixture of corrugated iron and concrete. There are children being taught, as I saw, in a school formed out of old containers which are cold in winter and hot in summer. There are more than 500 children, with each container taking 30 children, who are taught in double shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There are destroyed houses, but because of the restrictions on imports of cement and aggregates, they cannot be rebuilt. There are Dickensian scenes where young people pick their way through the rubble to find stone. That is the reality.

That is something of the flavour of life for many Palestinians and the longer that continues, the greater the danger that is building up for the whole region and conceivably for the whole world. But then of course you come up against the argument that is quite reasonably put by many Israelis—and the noble Lord, Lord Clinton- Davis, touched on it. They say, “Consider the history of Gaza”. They say, “Our forces left and our settlers left and how were we rewarded? We were rewarded with a hail of rockets directed at Israel”. I do not deny for a moment that that is a powerful argument and one in which Israel has a perfect right to seek reassurance—a reassurance that I hope it feels is being increasingly provided on the West Bank by the police of the Palestinian Authority.

We see the argument that says that perhaps one day we can think of political advance but not now. But in spite of the security difficulties, we should still try to find a political solution which in the end will be the best guarantee and perhaps the only guarantee of security in the long term. I do not believe that we have the luxury of time. Both on the West Bank and in Gaza there is a predominantly young population; a point made by both Front Benches. In the West Bank, 70 per cent of the population is below the age of 30. Gaza is similar. There are many young people growing up who want careers and jobs. They want opportunity and hope. If that opportunity and hope are not provided for them, I fear that there is a real risk that they in turn will resort to violence.

I remember visiting a school in Gaza. There were girls in smart, neat uniforms and they went through their rehearsed paces for the benefit of visitors. But when you spoke to them individually, some of the make-up peeled away. They were concerned about their futures and what their opportunities would be. Did they have any realistic opportunities? The blame that they attached to their situation was not directed at Hamas: they blamed Israel. That is the kind of position that needs to be reversed.

No one claims for a moment that it is anything but the most difficult task, but if there is a way forward, it is through the resumption of talks and serious negotiation. Perhaps the outside world can help in this although, like a number of other noble Lords, I sometimes think that the intervention of the USA and the West in the affairs of the Middle East, from Suez to Iraq, has not been outstandingly successful. Nevertheless, I believe that we have a part to play and I do not mean simply by trailing behind the United States: that does not necessarily serve the interests of the region.

Like the noble Baroness on the opposition Front Bench, I much regret that in the current critical circumstances, where perhaps we could have some influence, we are cutting back on the BBC World Service. That seems a very foolish thing to do at this point. I would have thought that this was the time to develop that service and try to develop our influence rather than to reduce it.

I also very much support the recent and rather more independent statements of both the Prime Minister on Gaza and the Foreign Secretary when he warned the Prime Minister of Israel that “belligerent language” was the last thing that we conceivably needed in this position. I particularly support the words of the Foreign Secretary quoted by my noble friend. We need decisive leadership in this area because, unless we have that, we face the prospect of decades of conflict. That is a powerful warning and everyone should take note.