Via the main Liberal Democrat website comes Ed Davey’s views:
David Miliband may not be prepared to say it, but the Israeli reaction is utterly disproportionate.
From the standpoint of ordinary people in Gaza this is a full-scale attack, which is leaving women and children dead and thousands of innocent people suffering.
The rocket attacks by Hamas are totally unacceptable, but Israel ought to have learnt from its attack on Lebanon which only served to strengthen the cause of extremism.
If David Miliband does not realise this action is disproportionate then he must be the last person in Britain who thinks so.
With this massive attack, Israel is in serious danger of squandering the goodwill in the West.
Diplomatic strategy has been replaced by electorally-based military tactics. The past policy of restraint in the face of rocket attacks has been undermining the extremists of Hamas, but this switch to bombing is likely to plays into the hands of the men of violence.
Israel’s friends must be frank with a Government facing a close election that this is counterproductive. Fighting may win votes, but it may equally lose the peace.
With the US Presidency in transition, it’s vital that the EU gives stronger leadership to back up the United Nations Security Council.
Britain should today seek an emergency meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers, as a clear signal to Israel that this action could prove counterproductive internationally too.
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12 Comments
Good to see the Lib Dem spokesperson taking the correct line and at the same time rightly critising the Government for their stance on Israel’s actions
On the plus side it is nice to see that Ed Davey is being strong in his remarks and criticising the government.
On the negative; get with the program, according the Haaretz the EU has already called a meeting….this story has been on their website for a good two hours…sad to say this indicates how tardy our response has been…
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/248196,eu-calls-crisis-meeting-on-gaza-violence.html
posted at 20.15…i mean, honestly…
I think it is excellent to see the Lib Dems have chosen the correct and most fair line.
Israel have for many years persecuted innocent Palestinians, yet us in the West turn our backs on the innocent and support the aggressive, so it is great to see that Ed Davey has spoken out agaist this.I feel that the UK need to apply pressure on the Knesset and stop this disproportionate use of force and push towards a permanent ceasefire
Let’s hope he does not say too much. Jenny Tonge was disgracefully treated when she spoke out on the issue.
Not very liberal.
Darrell: Ed’s statement was made the best part of a day before the news you mention. It just didn’t appear on LDV for a little while. Sometimes it’s worth checking rather than assuming the worst 🙂
Mark,
In my defence; it is dated on the Liberal Democrat website Monday 29th and only appeared on this site at 23.15. Now, I dont think my comments become unfair in that context….this doesnt look like the same statement that appeared a couple of days ago on the BBC and there was absolutely zip coverage of it on Sunday which is when you claim it was made….
Some will want Ed Davey to go further in his condemnation, and I have a lot of sympathy for that view. However I think that Ed Davey has taken the correct line because if the UK too obviously takes sides in this conflict it would be harder for us to play a useful diplomatic role in mediating between the 2 sides.
However we must obviously speak out against violations of international law and human rights.
What Isreal is doing to Gaza is similar to what they did in Lebonan. In this case Gaza does not have an army to protect it, so to be less diplomatic this looks like a massacre of civillians by the Isreali military forces.
Incidentally Mark as an addendum;to be fair it was never even mentioned on Lib Dem Blogs…the top story is still ‘government and tories must apoplogise for iraq’ under the lib dems heading…isnt that something that should be looked into??
Darrell: if you’ve spotted a problem on Lib Dem Blogs, it’s best to email Ryan directly so he can look at it. (I’ve let him know about this.)
But back to the original point, faced with the timing of a story on LDV you seemed to me to conclude, “Oh, Ed Davey must be behind the times” rather than “Oh, was LDV a bit slow at posting up a story?” A sceptical instinct is good; but I think in this case were too ready to leap to (wrong) conclusions.
Mark,
My point I was saying in response was that although I accept Ed wasnt behind the times there was no way purusing the media to know that he wasnt if that makes sense. I googled Ed Davey and Israel and the three things that came up in order were the story on LDV then the piece on the Lib Dems site…
Which is a slight shame because it is a good statement and puts us in a good position compared to the other two parties who are being more equivical…
Dear All
I am really happy that lib dem are thinking on the right line, i am astonished where is the conservative party and what their leaders are saying. I hope that this conflict end as soon as possible because already 800 innocent people have been killed and only 6 aggressors.
I hail Lib dem for taking this stance and being the party that truly represent the british values.