Lib Dem MP Sir Bob Russell launched a broadside in the Commons last week against the Israeli parliament for approving (in his words) “what can be described only as ethnically cleansing between 40,000 and 60,000 Bedouin”.
He went on to attack the US Government and the European Union for their inaction and the British media for its silence — but singled out for praise Jewish Voice for Peace, which is campaigning against what it terms “this massive violation of human rights”. His call was echoed by the Conservative MP for Beckenham, Colonel Bob Stewart, a former British Army officer and the former United Nations commander in Bosnia.
Here’s Sir Bob’s statement in full:
Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD): If people are still looking for a book to read during the summer recess, I would recommend “You Can’t Hide the Sun” by the Beirut hostage, John McCarthy. He provides a very disturbing and worrying account of life for Palestinians post-1948. He pulls back the curtains, goes behind the scenery and reveals what is really going on in that troubled part of the world.
By the time we return to Parliament in September, it is quite possible that a serious situation will have got even worse. The Israeli Parliament has voted for what can be described only as ethnically cleansing between 40,000 and 60,000 Bedouin. Clearly, the removal of such a large number of humanity will be undertaken only at the point of a gun. If ethnic cleansing were going on anywhere else in the world, the world’s leaders would be voicing outrage. The national and international media would have television cameras there reporting this crime against humanity, yet we have a deafening silence from political leaders in this country and in the United States of America.
It is the Americans who allow this sort of thing to go on, as they have since 1948. President Obama has failed to ensure that ethnic cleansing does not take place by the Israelis and the Israeli Parliament against the Bedouin. It is, of course, a track record that goes back over many years. The illegal occupation of the west bank and East Jerusalem; the obvious apartheid legislation of the Israeli Government; the ignoring of countless United Nations resolutions, the Geneva convention and international law: these are everyday occurrences for Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Our Government have been silent. Two weeks ago, in this very Chamber, when I invited the Foreign Secretary to condemn Israel for the ethnic cleansing of the Bedouins, he declined to do so, and I therefore asked him a parliamentary question on 11 July.
Bob Stewart [Conservative, Beckenham]: I want to place on record that I personally condemn what is happening to the Bedu. I used to live in the area. I think it is disgraceful that there are two kinds of people—Israelis and the others—on the west bank, and that the law is different for each of them. It is appalling.
Sir Bob Russell: I am extremely grateful to my hon. and gallant Friend, because he brings to the Chamber a very distinguished military record. He is a soldier whose reputation is such that he would never find himself up before the International Court of Justice. I am bound to say that some of the military leaders and Israeli political leaders would face the Court for what they have done, and for what they are doing.
In my parliamentary question, I asked the Foreign Secretary
“how many representations he has received in opposition to proposals by the government of Israel to forcibly remove 40,000 Bedouin from their historic lands.”
In fact, the figure may be 60,000 by now. A Minister replied:
“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received over 600 representations from members of the public on this issue.”—[Official Report, 11 July 2013; Vol. 566, c. 355.]
I will not be silenced on the issue. I am speaking here on behalf of the 600 or more people who have written to our Government, and I am speaking, I hope, with the blessing of all people of all faiths around the world who deplore what is being done. I want specifically to praise the work of the American-based organisation Jewish Voice for Peace, because, like that organisation, I want to see peace in the Holy Land. I want to see people of all faiths and religions and of none living in harmony. I am bound to observe, however, that the actions, past and present, of the Israeli Parliament are more akin to what went on in apartheid South Africa. The world did not like what went on in apartheid South Africa, but the world is silent about what is going on in Israel/ Palestine.
Where are the words of opposition from President Obama and the United States Administration? There are none. Where are the words of opposition from the Government of the United Kingdom? There are none. What is the European Union doing, other than having friendly trade relations with Israel? Earlier this year, there was the extraordinary situation of an international European football tournament taking place in Israel. The last time I looked at the map of the world, Israel was not in Europe.
I hope that, out there, President Obama, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Pope, our Prime Minister or whoever will prevail on the Israeli Parliament. It must be made clear that the forcible removal of up to 60,000 Bedouins—in addition to everything else that has been done over the years—does not bring forward peace in the middle east, but sets it back. I want to see a peaceful Holy Land, but I think that leaders must speak up.
I hope that, if nothing else, I have drawn attention to what is happening to the Bedouins. The BBC is not covering it, our national newspapers are not covering it, ITV is not covering it, Sky News is not covering it, Channel 4 is not covering it. If 60,000 people were being subjected to ethnic cleansing in any other country in the world, it would be the lead news. Shame on our national media for pulling a curtain across the stage so that people do not know what is going on.
I ask Members please to acquire a copy of “You Can’t Hide the Sun” by John McCarthy, and to read it and find out what is going on in that part of the world. They will not find that out through the British media
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18 Comments
More criminal actions by the Israeli government.
Bob should be working with prominent Muslim broadcaster, Mohammed Shafiq, a great campaigner for the Palestinian cause.
I salute you Sir Bob, along with David Ward and Sir Richard, you tell it how it is.
The US support for Israel is so overwhelming that any Peace talks are just a sham parade to the World.
Israel has systematically removed and demolished Palestinian Property and Farmland, taking it for their own, and then abusing and bullying anyone who comes near to them.
Their expansionism program is now aimed at their own Arabs, so that they can expel them from their ancestral lands, in order to settle their own kind.
It would seem Israel can break every UN motion with impunity.
You can expect a backlash for daring to speak out. It would seem no one can criticize Israel and get away with it.
Careful Bob, the leadership doesn’t seem to take kindly to members calling the Israeli government out.
“…no-one can criticize Israel and get away with it.”
Apart from Bob, you, and the hordes who do and get away with it just fine, you mean?
Bob Russell is spot on. He has said it in unambiguous words that no-one can misinterpret. He spoke up in parliament and not on twitter. He thus got his whole case across – impossible in 140 characters!
Bob shows how to communicate views on Israel and others who share his views might well take note.
Sir Bob Russell says that the world is silent about what is happening in Israel/Palestine. The world is silent?! Surely the world never talks about anything else! http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2012/02/media-bias.
He says that no media is covering the Israeli Bedouin situation and singles out the BBC for criticism on that score, when a simple Google search brings up loads of media coverage, including this from the BBC’s Newsnight: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20945253.
This BBC piece fairly covers the situation and quotes many severe critics of what Israel is doing, as well as quoting Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev, who told Newsnight:
“One of the primary problems we’ve had till now is that the Bedouin haven’t had ownership of the land they’re on, and through the Prawer Plan we want to bring a situation where the Bedouin sit on land that they are legal owners of, and this is a form of empowerment that, together with parallel policies of investing in education and healthcare and other aspects of Bedouin infrastructure, we hope will bring the Bedouin into the mainstream.”
Is that what Sir Bob Russell calls ethnic cleansing at the point of a gun? I hardly think so.
Sir Bob calls with passionate sincerity for an end to all conceivable human rights abuses; I wish that he would couple that passion with the sort of intellectual rigour shown in this paper by some Israeli civil rights groups, which eloquently and reasonably outlines the history of this issue and then explains why the Israeli Government may well have got this completely wrong: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.acri.org.il/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Bimkom-ACRI-Position-Paper-Prawer.pdf&sa=U&ei=IOzwUbO0Fo7esgbbxIDgAw&ved=0CA0QFjAC&sig2=tlwEa8mwBjgKGz1YQk78oA&usg=AFQjCNGcSl-QhURfABkVWHSMhFFZaxwyjQ
It is the hard facts of what is happening on which we need to focus if we are to be serious players in the debate about these important matters. This is not an issue that has been ignored by Israel’s British supporters, if you look at: http://www.uktaskforce.org/activities/study-trips/2012-negev.php.
A final irony: the brutal dictatorship in Syria has found time in its busy schedule to complain about this Israeli Bedouin situation: http://www.syriaonline.sy/?f=Details&catid=12&pageid=6548. 90,000 civilians butchered in Syria’s civil war, and Syria’s unelected tyrants lecture Israel about a Bedouin civil rights issue that has yet to claim a single life. Irony does not begin to cover it.
I note from Wikipedia that: “In most countries in the Middle East the Bedouin have no land rights, only users’ privileges, and it is especially true for Egypt.”
Will Sir Bob soon be fighting with equal vigour for the rights of Egypt’s Bedouin, given what is happening to them in the Sinai right now, today (http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21581782-wake-muhammad-morsis-fall-sinai-becoming-even-more-dangerous-haven), with The Economist reporting: “Both the Bedouin and members of the Brotherhood fear that the generals may send back the state security forces, who tortured thousands of people in a counter-insurgency campaign against terrorists after tourist hotels in Sharm el-Sheikh were bombed in 2005.”
Bedouin people in Egypt today fearing the return of state security forces who previously tortured thousands of people – is that not worse than anything that Israel stands accused of?
And yet I hear silence. The same silence that I hear regarding the Bedouin people of Kuwait, who Amnesty (http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/kuwait-small-step-forward-bidun-rights-4000-foreigners-granted-citizenship-2013-03-21) says are treated appallingly.
Why do I hear this silence? Because some lazy media have reached a consensus that certain high-profile problems and conflicts (e.g. Israel/Palestine) are of central importance, while others (including ones in which far more people are actually suffering and/or dying) get little or no attention. It stinks.
Why should we care about these Bedouins; they have never done us any favours, they live in a land thousands of miles from our shores and speaking out on their behalf invites trouble ? I, for one, do care and I care because I am a member of the human race and I would be ashamed of myself if ever I turned a blind eye to injustice and persecution wherever it may occur
@Matthew Harris
Whataboutery is never a good look.
I’ve always felt that there isn’t much to choose between the Israelis and Palestinians in terms of brutality and sheer obstinacy, and I’m deeply suspicious of anybody who claims to support one side against the other.
I have met the very brave and impressive women of the Negev. Their homes are routinely bulldozed, and they are then sent a bill for the demolition. They are citizens but have few rights in their historic lands. A human rights travesty. Comparing what is happening with the situation in Syria, is hardly helpful, and does not excuse the systematic expulsion of these people.
@Meral Hussein Ece I did not compare what is happening in the Negev to what is happening in Syria – the Syrian Government did. Do you agree with me that Sir Bob Russell’s reference to ethnic cleansing at the point of a gun in the Negev is innacurate?
@Meral Husssein Ece I agree that nothing would ever justify the systematic expulsion of these people.
To me, “systematic expulsion” implies that these people are being expelled from a territory and given nowhere else to go- perhaps being thrown homeless into No Man’s Land.
Whereas what is happening in the Negev is surely that some nomadic people are being compulsorily re-housed (in the same territory) in such a way as to potentially threaten the continuation of their traditional nomadic lifestyle.
If I lived in Israel, I might well be a member of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and I might oppose this plan to re-house the Bedouin, just as I oppose civil rights violations in the UK. But I wouldn’t call it ethnic cleansing at the point of a gun or systematic expulsion. And I hope that I would campaign for the human rights of all Bedouin – not only those in Israel, but also those suffering in Egypt, Kuwait, etc, all of whom have stories that deserve to be told.
@Matthew Harris, I’m sorry but I do not share your interpretation of this. I have met and spoken to amazing women of the Negev, and this is forceful expulsion. I don’t know what you would call it if the full force of the military came along and bulldozed your house,, with all your belongings, and your children standing by hysterical and traumatised. Humane it isn’t. You do your cause no good by defending the indefensible.
@Meral Hussein Ece I did not ‘defend’ it and I did not label it ‘humane’.
I said that if I lived in Israel, I might well be a member of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and might oppose this plan to re-house the Bedouin, just as I oppose civil rights violations in the UK (http://matthewfharris.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/litmus-test-for-lib-dem-government.html?m=1; http://matthewfharris.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/palestinian-hunger-strike-to-end.html?m=1; http://matthewfharris.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/gilad-shalit-palestinian-prisoners-and.html?m=1; http://matthewfharris.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/we-need-public-inquiry-on-torture.html?m=1).
My initial comment was asking why Sir Bob Russell suggests that it will be ethnic cleansing at the point of a gun when it clearly won’t be anything of the sort – so why say that it will be? I also pointed out that he was quite wrong to claim that there has been no media coverage when there has actually been loads, especially as he got into BBC-bashing, and I am a great defender of the BBC and its independence from politicians including Sir Bob – his allegation that the BBC has not covered this story was entirely false. I posted BBC Newsnight’s coverage and urged all to read it: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20945253.
I also posted ACRI’s highly critical report on Israeli government policy towards the Bedouin and again urge all to read it: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.acri.org.il/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Bimkom-ACRI-Position-Paper-Prawer.pdf&sa=U&ei=IOzwUbO0Fo7esgbbxIDgAw&ved=0CA0QFjAC&sig2=tlwEa8mwBjgKGz1YQk78oA&usg=AFQjCNGcSl-QhURfABkVWHSMhFFZaxwyjQ
And I posted this British group’s report of a visit to the Negev, including some personal testimonies that would, I think, echo some of what Meral writes: http://www.uktaskforce.org/activities/study-trips/2012-negev.php (I have not read it all yet).
The best way to resolve complicated problems in places like Israel/Palestine is to dispassionately focus on the facts.
I think it would be sensible and just to also highlight the postives from Israel and Israeli’s. Technology, Arts, Media , Medicine….the list goes on.
Let us try to see the good in people, all people.
Also, let us think what “ethnic cleansing” actually is.
The online Oxford English Dictionary says that it is: “the mass expulsion or killing of members of one ethnic or religious group in an area by those of another”.
The online Cambridge English Dictionary calls it: “the organised attempt by a particular race or political group to completely remove from a country or area anyone who belongs to another particular race, using violence and often murder to achieve this”.
The online Collins English Dictionary calls it: “the violent removal by one ethnic group of other ethnic groups from the population of a particular area: used esp of the activities of Serbs against Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia”.
Could someone please tell me how Israel’s policy on the Bedouins fits any of those definitions of ethnic cleansing? Sir Bob not only calls it ethnic cleansing, but also said: “Clearly, the removal of such a large number of humanity will be undertaken only at the point of a gun.”
Sir Bob should know better than to take at face value everything that he is told by illiberal Far Left groups that hijack the pro-Palestinian cause and have their own agenda.
Well spoken. Too many people are currently suffering for speaking truth at the moment. The Israelis should be treated in relation to their actions as any other group would be. Bob Russell indicates that the Jewish people themselves see where wrong is being done. In any case, we are Liberals should not allow themselves to be impressed into fearing to criticise the illiberalism of the Zionist state.