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Gaza

My Lords, rather like the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, I want to view Gaza against the wider background, because there cannot be stability in that area until there is a long-term comprehensive settlement. Only that settlement can stop this endless cycle of destruction followed by reconstruction. I first visited the Middle East aged 11, in 1947, and have revisited the area many times since, the most recent being last week as a guest of the Government of Kuwait. It is sobering to think that throughout the lifetime of all of us we have witnessed the steady and almost ineluctable deterioration in Palestine. It is worth reminding ourselves that it was 100 years ago that the early Jewish settlements served as a warning signal of the land disputes to come. The Balfour Declaration then followed, which referred to the creation of a Jewish homeland but also said that, "““nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine””." It was possibly a rather careless declaration. In 1937, a year after my birth, a royal commission in this country concluded: "““An irrepressible conflict has arisen between two national communities within the narrow bounds of one small country””." We are familiar with the steady deterioration since then: the end of the British mandate in 1948; the war in 1956; the war in 1967; and all that followed, with the illegal Jewish settlements in occupied territory, the intifadas and the ever-increasing cycle of destruction and extremism. The result, it seems to me, is that endeavouring to satisfy a gross injustice done to the Jews in Europe, and elsewhere for that matter, has in itself resulted in a gross injustice to Palestinians over a relatively tiny area of land. It has created a kind of cancer, which is spreading outwards, destabilising the Middle East and affecting Europe too, with, for example, the Muslim outrage that we now see and the deplorable anti-Semitism that we have seen in recent times. Nobody comes out of this well. First, the Israelis, with their aggressive form of self-defence, grabbing land illegally and not appearing to care for Palestinians, take a very self-defeating approach. Secondly, the Palestinians themselves, as Abba Eban said, never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity: there has been no leadership—no Mandela in that area—and they are as divided as ever. Then there is the wider Arab world, which is divided, destabilised, often radicalised and lacking in leadership. Lastly, there is the international community. We do not escape criticism, of course, because we have played a major part in this issue, but the lack of even-handedness on the part of the United States has had disastrous consequences. Now we have a new challenging opportunity, provided by President Obama, to move forward, and in a region that Prince Turki al-Faisal recently described as a ““basket full of snakes””. Vision, courage and determination are now required from all parties to work tirelessly towards a comprehensive settlement in a two-state solution. From the United States, unprecedented leadership is needed to bring Israel to understand that its security and its future depend on recognising and dealing with the injustices done to the Palestinians, and that an alternative to a two-state solution could be much worse for it. The United States must be prepared to use what influence it has with Israel—$3 billion a year is not a puny sum—to try to influence it and lead Congress in the right direction. The European Union at the moment needs to be out front while the United States works out its policies, led particularly by the United Kingdom and France in taking whatever initiatives are necessary and particularly in working with our Arab friends and the Palestinians to create a more positive climate. I agree entirely with the noble Lord, Lord Howell, that the Arab world must respond to President Obama’s new approach by working together to influence the Palestinians. In Kuwait, which held the economic summit the week before last, there was a massive effort by our friends in the Gulf to create unity about the Arab peace plan of 2002, which some want to drop. They only just managed to keep unity among the Arab states on that plan. The United Kingdom and Her Majesty’s Government must not underestimate the value of our long-standing links with our friends not only in Egypt and Saudi Arabia but particularly in the Gulf states. We must work vigorously with them. I agree with the view expressed by the noble Lords, Lord Wallace and Lord Howell, that we must also work with Syria and Turkey and talk to Iran to strengthen the forces of moderation. However, the pressure on the Palestinians to unite must come from the leaders of the Arab world. If the Palestinians want a future at all, they must be persuaded to unite to work through collective leadership; at the moment, they are bitterly divided between Hamas and Fatah. Obviously the main ingredients must be a two-state solution, borders that are broadly in line with the pre-1967 war borders, compensation for refugees in one form or another, stopping new settlements and removing all existing settlements as part of the eventual settlement. Jerusalem must be divided or become an international city. We in Parliament are entitled to demand a vigorous lead from Her Majesty’s Government, remembering that we played a major role in creating this problem. Her Majesty’s Government must speak frankly and openly to our friends in the United States about what we believe is needed. The alternatives are too terrible to contemplate. Jews and Palestinians must be persuaded that there is a better and more secure future for them, and we must do our utmost to help them to create trust between the two parties. I end by quoting the words of Martti Ahtisaari, who recently achieved the Nobel Peace Prize. On 10 December, he said: "““Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal””." It will be a long hard haul, but I hope and pray that in my lifetime we will make some progress.