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Gaza

My Lords, we welcome the Government’s Statement and the constructive role that they have taken in drafting and securing UN Security Council Resolution 1860, calling for a ceasefire and withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza. It is a much more satisfactory approach from the Government than what we first heard at the beginning of the conflict a week ago. This is a tragedy for Gaza and, as it seems to many of us, a strategic disaster for Israel. Those of us who are committed to the long-term security of Israel within a two-state solution recognise that that can be built only on the consent and co-operation of both sides. We now see how Gaza is clearly a problem that must be part of the peace process. Clearly, neither Israel nor Egypt wants to have to inherit the 1.5 million people stuck in Gaza, heavily concentrated and suffering from effective economic siege over the past three years. As the noble Lord, Lord Howell, has just said, Israel has been the occupying power in Gaza for much of the past 40 years. It therefore has to accept some of the responsibility for the current state of Gaza and for the current bitter attitude of its population. The deteriorating situation for these people of course drives them towards increasing radicalism. All the evidence we have from Vietnam and from studies of British and German people in World War II is that bombing promotes radicalisation. Bombing does not encourage people to give in and accept whatever terms they are offered by the other side. In the process of this war we are also seeing radicalisation across the Middle East and less willingness on the Arab street to accept a two-state solution or a permanent presence for Israel in the Middle East within its 1967 borders. Therefore, the British Government, with their European partners and with the United States—after all, as part of the EU we are a member of the quartet—need to promote conversations with Syria and other Arab Governments; take up again the Saudi peace offer; work with the new Obama Administration; and re-launch a realistic Middle East peace process which must involve both a withdrawal of Israel’s settlements and army posts within the West Bank and a solution to the multiple problems of Gaza. We also recognise that this has a backwash, as we have already seen this weekend, within the United Kingdom. We need to ensure that communities within the United Kingdom with interests or faith connections to the region are encouraged to promote moderation and compromise and not to give their support to the more partisan, radical and intransigent elements on both sides in this conflict. Neither Israel nor the Palestinians can establish long-term peace and security without the co-operation and consent of the other in a shared land. The tragedy of Israel’s intervention is that it is based on the belief that peace in Israel can be maintained through repeated humiliation of its neighbours.