Israeli-Palestinian Peace: International Fund

Preet Kaur Gill Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham Edgbaston) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) on securing the debate. I pay tribute to the thousands of Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilders, some of whom are here with us today. I thank them for their tireless and inspirational work, and the Alliance for Middle East Peace for all it does to give them a voice. They give us hope at a time when it is in such short supply. The past 18 months have been the most painful for the people of Israel and Palestine—on 7 October the worst massacre of Jews in one day since the holocaust, death and destruction in Gaza on an intolerable scale, and the torment of hostages held in chains for more than 500 days.

The ceasefire must continue to hold, the hostages taken by Hamas must be unconditionally released, and desperately needed aid must be allowed to reach innocent Gazans. Out of the rubble of the conflict, we must vow to create the conditions for peace. Our goal has to be a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and independent Palestine.

How do we get there? First, we have to learn the lessons from the past. For decades, diplomats and politicians have invested countless hours in trying to achieve peace from the top down. Each effort ultimately failed. Why? Because neither community felt that it had a real partner for peace. Without public support, even well-intentioned leaders cannot impose a lasting peace from the top down. We know from conflicts such as the one in Northern Ireland, most notably, that diplomacy can make a lasting difference, not just as a result of a top-down approach but from a bottom-up approach.

I think of Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow, a pioneering summer school programme that has supported more than 800 Israeli and Palestinian young adults in learning computer science, social entrepreneurship and leadership skills. MEET is just one of hundreds of such programmes that have emerged since the signing of the Oslo accords. We know that they work. Just look at the data: 80% of participants in a dialogue project were more willing to work for peace, 71% reported more trust and empathy for the other, and 77% had a greater belief that reconciliation is possible.

I commend the Prime Minister for his leadership. He has consistently supported that different path and his commitment in December to convene a summit in support of civil society peacebuilding is a vital first step. The United Kingdom has a unique opportunity: our experience of peacebuilding in Northern Ireland, our world-leading development expertise and the UK’s convening power mean that this is an area in which we can provide real leadership. When speaking about why the Obama Administration’s diplomatic efforts did not succeed in 2014, former US Secretary of State John Kerry said,

“the negotiations did not fail because the gaps were too wide, but because the level of trust was too low.”

Will the Minister provide an update on the preparations for the United Kingdom’s summit in support of peacebuilding?

With the UK’s support in building peace from the bottom up by tackling the fear and mistrust that has only grown since 7 October, we stand a chance of learning the lessons of the past and making sure that the next effort at top-down diplomacy succeeds. We owe it to the people of Israel and Palestine.