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Israel

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Dykes, for securing this debate. I am a great admirer of his and have become an even greater admirer as he secured the debate just before the end of this Parliament. I, too, strongly believe that representation should and must be made to the Israeli Government in view of their human rights violations and continued disregard for international law. The first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be our first and foremost concern. I do not need to remind your Lordships that it states that, ""all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights"." We have a global responsibility to uphold this in both our domestic and foreign policies, as it is our humanity that makes us human. Earlier this year I was part of a large European parliamentary delegation led by Sir Gerald Kaufman to Gaza, where we met members of the Samouni family. Mona Samouni was born free and equal in dignity and rights, but our ability to protect her and thousands of Gazan children like her has been thwarted by Israel’s disregard for international law. The 14 year- old showed me and approximately 60 European parliamentarians the remains of her family house. She described how her father was shot and killed in front of her eyes. She saw her father’s brain being shot out of his head. Some 29 members of the Samouni family were killed during Operation Cast Lead. The Samouni family do not belong to Hamas or Al-Fatah. They are not political; they are an ordinary Palestinian farming family. I also met the mother of a six year-old who was shot twice in the chest at point-blank range after he protested and cried when his father was shot right in front of his eyes. The mother of this child showed us photographs of the little boy and her dead husband. I was humbled by Mona’s resilience but also deeply shocked by how the international community remains silent about the suffering of Gazan children. Without renewed, clear and urgent representation from the British Government, our dedication to securing human rights will be in question on the global stage. I will briefly outline Israel’s breaches under international law with regards to both Gaza and continued settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Sir Gerald Kaufman, as the leader of the British parliamentary delegation to Gaza, spoke for us all when he said that, ""if Europe does not take political action to bring about the end of the siege, we are culpable"." That is, we are culpable for the 75 per cent of Gazans who are malnourished and the 50 per cent of Gazan children under the age of 12 who do not have the will to live. The laws of occupation incorporated in the Hague Convention of 1907 and in the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 apply to a state if it has "effective control" over the territory in question. No one can deny that Israel has effective control of the Gaza Strip. On my visit, UN representatives told me that the borders are so tightly controlled that even they could not obtain building materials to rebuild their own buildings, which were destroyed in January 2009. Two days ago, aid agencies spoke once more of serious shortages of food, medicines and essentials. Goods have been held in Israel’s ports since 2007 and the first small cargo of clothes and shoes was allowed through two days ago, most of it damaged. With the people of Gaza imprisoned like this, what hope is there of recovery? Gaza has had a four-year prison sentence. Many have described it as the largest prison in the world. The blockade is in breach of Article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, which prohibits collective punishment. It is also stipulated that non-combatant civilians must be protected during armed conflict and that the free passage of medicines, medical assistance teams and essential foodstuffs must be allowed. There were 1,400 fatalities during Operation Cast Lead. Since then, a further 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis. In the same amount of time, two Israeli soldiers have been killed in armed conflict. The response to this was 13 air strikes. The target was supposed to be a weapons factory, but a milk factory, a metal workshop and farms were also hit. According to the WHO, Israeli bombs hit more than half of Gaza’s 27 hospitals and 44 clinics. The Geneva Convention makes it clear that medical staff and hospitals are not legitimate targets. The list of violations continues. When Britain abstained from the UN vote on the ratification of the Goldstone report, that detachment showed not only lack of interest in the plight of the Palestinian people but also support for Israel’s conduct. However, representatives from both Houses have campaigned for the UN-ratified Goldstone report to be implemented and reflected in our foreign policy towards Israel. We must continue to do so or we will appear to hold double standards and make a mockery of UN law. The 10th EU-Israel association agreement council meeting will be held next Tuesday to decide whether Israel meets the conditions set by the EU-Israel association agreement, one of which is to, ""respect human rights and democratic principles"." We should be making representations to the Israeli Government, but we should also make it clear to the EUIAA council that its actions should be suspended until the Israeli Government comply with international law. Europe would not be alone in calling for this. America has taken a historically strong stance and shown its resolve in making the road map to peace a reality. We could join it and call for an end to the continued settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Hillary Clinton stated that such construction, ""undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need"." By systematically building settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Israel breaches the rules of international humanitarian law governing occupation, in particular Article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, by which Israel has been bound since 6 July 1951. Israel’s most recent provocation was its announcement that 122 new settlement buildings would be constructed. These violations of international law have happened and will continue unless a strong stance towards the Israeli Government is initiated. Since 1967 Israel has been the subject of 138 resolutions and has violated 40 of them. In comparison, Iraq has been the subject of 69 Security Council resolutions. It is time that Her Majesty’s Government stopped appeasing the Zionist lobby and took a firm step towards ensuring that international law is respected. We have a duty to children like Mona and thousands of other Palestinians who deserve a brighter future.