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EU: Gaza and the West Bank

My Lords, with diplomatic friends I visited Jerusalem, Gaza and Nablus last July. Nablus was, and I believe still is, almost sealed off by Israeli forces, with access on foot through a humiliating checkpoint. Gaza remains an open-air prison, with restricted access from the north and almost no movement to or from Egypt through the Rafah crossing. Gaza still has no air or sea port. The successful ceasefire has allowed a small increase in supplies by land of fuel and other essentials. No exports are moving out of Gaza, hence the massive unemployment, dependence on food aid and almost certain malnourishment among children. Because the local water supplies are polluted by salt, kidney diseases are common. In spite of all those problems, some normal life continues; we visited a joyful graduation ceremony at the university. Since last summer, it has been obvious that the Gaza ceasefire should be extended to the whole of the West Bank. Alas, that has barely been discussed. Will the Government devote some effort and energy to that matter? Will they try harder to secure the release from detention in Israel of some 40 Palestinian parliamentarians and others who are still held without charge? Our Government and the quartet’s special representative have set out to improve the economic situation of Palestinians. That has proved an impossible task while Gaza remains blockaded and the West Bank is divided by Israeli checkpoints, which have increased in number since the Annapolis conference. When will the Government give a full account of their policy towards Israel and Palestine? They cannot claim that it has been in any way successful. Fifteen years of negotiations by the PLO and then the PA have not ended a military occupation that has lasted for 41 years. Increasing colonisation of the West Bank has inevitably led to despair and violence, as Prime Minister Olmert recently recognised. How much has this country spent since the Oslo agreements to shore up a disastrous status quo? The total world amount of aid and relief to Palestinians has been put at $9 billion. Why has Hamas been demonised, when it contains some of the most well educated, honest and consistent politicians in the Arab world? Why were we so cool about the Arab League initiative? Why did we not welcome the Palestinian Government of national unity? Why are we still relying on the largely unreformed Fatah party, which is now internally split? Her Majesty’s Government have a great deal to explain.