Commenting on the one year anniversary of the 7th October terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
As we remember the terror and pain of October 7th, we must all come together and stand in solidarity against hate and violence. One year ago, we awoke to those horrifying scenes in Israel of Hamas’s brutal terrorist atrocities.
When I visited Israel and Palestine a few months ago, I saw for myself the destruction and devastation at the Kfar Aza kibbutz and the festival site in Re’im. I met Itzik, a father waiting for news of his two sons, Yair and Eitan, who were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. I pray for Yair and Eitan, and the 99 other people who are still held hostage. They should be at home with their loved ones, and we must do all we can to make that happen.
Here in the UK, we need to stand with the Jewish community as we mark this awful anniversary. These past 12 months have seen a sharp rise in antisemitism in our country, and that is completely unacceptable. In the Middle East, we must continue to press for an immediate bilateral ceasefire to end the terrible cycle of violence, get the hostages out and bring about the lasting peace that will give Israelis and Palestinians the security they deserve.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Michael Meadowcroft: A Liberal of Intellectual Rigour and Uncommon Integrity
Debt-ridden graduates claim they are seen as cash cows
Why non-fiction books need their indexes
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap up
Tom Bailey
Matt (Bristol)
Hywel
Chloe
Sam Bateman
15 Comments
Ed, I believe the most important quality amongst friends is honesty, 100% honesty.
The Washington Post wrote:
The female soldiers who predicted Oct. 7 say they are still being silenced
The Israeli field observers who monitor the country’s embattled borders say they are ignored by their commanders, as they were before Hamas attacked.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/04/israel-female-field-observers-october-7-attacks-hamas-gaza/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3f320f3%2F6700162e8c884f35bce08980%2F65105c035a6b7a53b2d88996%2F31%2F57%2F6700162e8c884f35bce08980
Thank you, Mr Waller, for raising a serious question.
Let us also remember that Israel is a legitimate state entitled to its peace and security.
@Mark Frankel 8th Oct ’24 – 9:21am….
Let us ALSO remember that Palestinian lives cannot/should not be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’
October 7th was appalling but could have been avoided by ending the occupation of Gaza and West Bank and allowing a Palestinian state. Palestinians have been living in misery, under occupation with martial laws left by the British to deal with Jewish terror groups like Hagana which allow imprisonment without trial in the west bank. Currently around 10,000 Palestinians are in prison without access to justice. Their families also suffer as do the families of the dissapeared, including medical staff from hospitals in Gaza. When will our leaders make statements acknowledging their suffering.
@PamelaManning. There is never any excuse for actions like that of Hamas on 7th October 2023 and no amount of blaming it on the equally unacceptable actions of Israel will justify them.
@Mick Taylor – whilst what happened on Oct 7th 2023 was unacceptable, subsequent actions authorised by the Israeli government are also wholly unacceptable taking matters into another league.
With the benefit of hindsight we can see that Israeli intelligence through its wholesale compromising of Hezbollah communications, should of known and thus been in a position to prevent what happened; the evidence is it did the exact opposite… So don’t try and convince us that Israel is somehow the innocent party.
Looks like Ed is going for the one-sided don’t scare off the voters response to 7th October.
7th October 2023 was a series of terrible atrocities for those poor people affected.
8th October 2023 to 9th October 2024 (367 days and counting) has been terrible for all of the innocent defenceless very poor people who are trapped and stateless in Gaza, and the West Bank, and beyond.
One is much bigger in magnitude than the other, but gets little mention.
All lives are equal.
@Roland. Read what I wrote again. I do not and never have condoned the Israeli actions. What I said, and I stand by it, is that those who try to justify the Oct 7th massacre by Hamas by blaming the Israelis are wrong. Killing people is always wrong no matter who does it. Slaughtering innocent men, women and children, raping women and taking hostages to make a point should have no place in any dispute. If only all those who support the two state solution – as I do – would speak out against violence on both sides and not try to sugar coat the actions of Hamas, we might start to make progress.
The whole Middle East saga will never be resolved as long as each sides continue to hate and attack the other. Everyone knows that there will never be peace until both sides agree to unconditional talks. Until that happens more people, mostly innocent civilians will die.
@Mick Taylor- Apologies I should have taken more care over the phrasing of my response; I wasn’t directing my comment specifically at you, but at those who think that the events of Oct 7th wholly justify Israel’s subsequent and continuing actions; I allowed my irritation about the bias we have been witnessing to come to the fore.
I agree, we do need a “responsible adult” intervention to separate the squabbling children and their backers. however, long-term peace, probably requires a change in that the geographic state of Israel is no longer governed as a Jewish state…
I do wonder if a two-state solution is still viable?
It seemed viable in the 90s. I don’t understand what went wrong then, why the opportunity for peace then wasn’t quite achieved.
I remember that an Israeli President (or PM) involved in the peace talks was assassinated, and it seems to go backwards from there.
The 90s saw the end of Apartheid followed by free elections, President Mandela, the Berlin wall came down followed by the Soviet Union, the Downing Street declaration followed by the Good Friday Agreement.
It seems that the last ~25 years have been pretty negative across all of the Middle East, but especially the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian situation. It doesn’t help that it is in part a proxy war between Russia/Iran and US/UK.
The last thing thart is needed is anymore “responsible adult” interventions to separate the squabbling children and their backers. The issues can only be settled by responsible Israeli and Palestinian leaders without external interference. In particular, the unwarranted exercise of Veto’s of UN resolutions by the USA in the UN security council. To achieve peace, Israeli’s and Palestinians need to put responsible political parties in government. Those parties are not the Netanyahu coalition nor Hamas.
The issues (as with Ukraine) should be determined on the basis of Intrnational law and UN resolutions. The regognised International territory of Israel is that of the pre-1967 borders. Areas outside those borders are occupied territory.
Former Israeli and Palestinian PMs say a two-state solution is still possible noting that an International preaceleeping fotce may need to be deployed in Gaza. Ehud Olmert and former Palestinian Authority prime minister Salam Fayyad say parties must pursue a two-state solution after the current war ends.
Mark Frankel,
It seems that Israel will only have peace and security once it has met the legitimate claims of the Palestinian people.
I think these can be summarised as:
A Palestinian state with at least 22% of the land of the Palestinian mandate, including most of East Jerusalem (a huge decrease from the 42.88% that it was allocated in the UN Partition Plan of 1948);
Land swops at one for one of comparable quality;
That the land of Gaza would be contiguous as would the land of the West Bank;
That Palestinians would have a right to return to the areas that their ancestors left after 1947 at the rate of 150,000 a year so long as this doesn’t result in ending the majority of the population of Israel being Jewish.
In 2000 at Camp David Ehud Barak wouldn’t accept these terms. According to an opinion poll taken afterwards 58% of Israelis thought Barak (even though he had not agreed to the above) had gone too far (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Camp_David_Summit).
Isreal should give up land from within its 1967 borders if it wants more concessions from the Palestinians.
The Israelis are determined to get what they have always wanted and under the present ruler they will not stop until they do no matter what the cost in blood and money because they have the backing of the US and the majority of its voters. If Israel can remove the Government of Iran the US will have no further need to spend billions of US taxpayers money and borrowings. Peace is never made by the just but by the powerful and the wicked. We did not make peace with Germany in 1945 but bombed it to destruction and imposed our system on them for the last 79 years but things are on the change even there now. We should all be very afraid
My concerns about a further escalation between Russia and Ukraine. Will the use of more destructive weapons prove to be what is needed? The Yazidi slaves never received the support they should have.