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EU: Gaza and the West Bank

My Lords, I first express my disgust that this House spent three and a half hours discussing one amendment to the Counter-Terrorism Bill and yet we have one dinner hour only to discuss a problem that lies at the very roots of terrorism itself. A recent report from the UN rapporteur on human rights said that settlement expansion, the wall, checkpoints and military areas have rendered 40 per cent of the West Bank inaccessible or unusable for Palestinians. Forty per cent of their original meagre share of Palestine is now useless. Nothing changes there except for the worst. The appalling humanitarian situation in Gaza is well known to noble Lords and I will not detail it, but only today I had a report from the UK branch of the Welfare Association of which I am a board member showing how aid is becoming less and less effective because of the lack of availability of goods and water. Everything is difficult to obtain, costs go up and projects are rendered near impossible. The UK Government protest but do nothing. The EU and the United Nations do likewise. Why? My efforts to find out why have got me into big trouble with the lobby of Israel’s supporters and I am sure I will again many times, but I take heart in the truly courageous activities of Jewish groups such as Jews for Justice for Palestinians and Peace Now. I hope that the House will join me in paying tribute to Irene Bruegel, the founder of Jews for Justice who died recently. She was an inspiration to fair-minded Israelis and Palestinians alike. Peace Now activist Professor Zeev Sternhell was recently injured in a pipe bomb attack on his home by militant settlers, yet continues to campaign for a fair, two-state solution based on 1967 borders. Israel now has her own home-grown terrorists who are active against the Palestinians around the settlements but also against anyone in Israel who dares to support a two-state solution, like the activists in Peace Now. I will use my remaining time to ask some direct questions of the Minister. What is Tony Blair doing exactly? Is there any progress to report? When will Hamas be brought into talks? If the answer is the usual, ““When they agree to the principles set by the quartet””, why does the same not apply to Israel? What action are we taking to freeze settlement expansion, which Israel has promised? Why has the European Union extended the EU-Israel agreement when Israel has not fulfilled the legal obligations originally imposed? Finally, does the Minister agree that Israel must realise that long-term peace requires her to abandon the Zionist’s dream of a greater Israel and make peace with the Palestinians before it is too late?