There have been some very good articles on the tragic events in the Middle East published by the Lib Dem Voice over the last two weeks, especially those by Leon Duveen, and Ruvi Ziegler, both Israeli/British citizens and very active members of our Party. I want to approach this from a different angle coloured by my own experience. I have worked and travelled in Palestine and other parts of the Middle East and have been Vice Chair and/or Secretary of the Lib Dem Friends of Palestine since 2013. I helped draft the 2021 motion on Palestine that was overwhelmingly passed by Conference. I have friends with families affected in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel – some tragically.
Like everybody else, I was shocked and saddened by what happened on 7 October in southern Israel, and I was equally saddened by the disproportionate response of the Israeli Government, which has already led to many more Palestinian deaths than resulted from the Hamas attack, including at least 1,500 children. 70-80,000 buildings have been destroyed including dozens of healthcare facilities and schools. Aid workers from MAP, UNWRA and other human rights agencies have been killed as well.
I have welcomed the solidarity shown to the Jewish community in this country and with Israelis more generally. It would be nice to see some of the same empathy towards the smaller but still significant Palestinian community here, and also to the 4 million strong Muslim community amongst whom there has always been strong sympathy for the beleaguered Palestinians, who are mostly Muslim and whose holy places have been treated with contempt by Israeli officialdom.
However, I was sickened to see the affection shown by Joe Biden and then Rishi Sunak towards Benjamin Netanyahu on their recent visits, and by Sunak’s assurance that “we hope you win”. Biden at least reminded Netanyahu of the Geneva Conventions and other aspects of international law which successive Israeli governments have claimed don’t apply to them. There is a very good case for arraigning Netanyahu before the International Criminal Court in the Hague – and, of course, the same goes for the leaders of Hamas. Our leaders should keep him at arm’s length as much as they possibly can. The same applies to people like President Sisi of Egypt, Mohammed Bin Salman and of course Bashar al-Assad.
Sunak largely ignores international law, evidenced by his government’s resistance to the International Criminal Court’s investigation of alleged war crimes committed in Israel/Palestine since 2013. Starmer isn’t much better, although he has now slightly diluted the unconditional support he originally gave Netanyahu for his complete blockade of Gaza. (I don’t think he can have done the International Law module when he was studying law.) The ICC has jurisdiction. Our Party policy is very clear that it should be encouraged to investigate possible war crimes as well as calling for immediate recognition of Palestine. The Labour Party has similar policies and indeed their Party Conference passed a very similar motion to ours the same week. But that doesn’t count in the Labour Party – the leadership immediately distanced itself from the motion!
I recommend readers to listen to this short (3+ minutes) speech by Prince Turki bin Faisal of Saudi Arabia to a US university audience last week. Prince Turki was educated in the UK and served as Ambassador in London and then in Washington. What he says likely reflects the views of the Saudi leadership which could have a key role to play in helping to resolve the situation for the long term. His appraisal of the situation is spot on, and he denounces both Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as the Western Governments which have been complicit in so much of the oppression of Palestinians for the last 75 years. If you think Prince Faisal is exaggerating, this is what Haaretz reports Netanyahu himself said in a Likud meeting in early 2019
“…anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state needs to support strengthening Hamas. This is part of our strategy, to isolate Palestinians in Gaza from Palestinians in Judea and Samaria”.
What should our own Leadership’s position be at this time? The YouGov poll published on Friday shows that 76% of the population of the UK is definitely or probably in favour of a ceasefire at this point. 62% of Lib Dem voters are definitely in favour of a ceasefire. Public mood changes quickly, and our party leader is in danger of getting out of step with both voters and members.
Layla Moran and Alistair Carmichael have gone on record calling for the UK to play a leading role in working to achieve a final, peaceful settlement, for a ceasefire, and for humanitarian aid to be taken urgently to Gaza. We need to see Ed demonstrating the same empathy to other communities that he has shown to the Jewish Community. Our 2021 motion differentiates us from Tory and Labour Leaders and he should give clear warning that there will be criminal sanctions at the ICC for those who commit war crimes, call for negotiations based on the Arab League peace initiative of 2002. And of course, he should reiterate the call for an immediate move towards a Palestinian state.
* John Kelly is active in Warwick District local party, a member of the West Midlands regional executive and Secretary of Lib Dem Friends of Palestine.
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16 Comments
Thank you for a balanced view and a call for action to treat Israeli and Palestinian lives as equivalent.
Thank you for an informative article which puts forward approaches which might go some way to achieving an outbreak of peace.
I do agree that the world has many unsavoury leaders but bringing them pretty much all before any tribunal is unlikely. Plus remember we are in a second cold war with Russia and China so we don’t want to drive Netanyahu,Modi,bin Salman etc into their arms.
Channel Four News has just underlined what we already know – Kier Starmer’s sudden volte face on the conflict was prompted by his advisors (“Kier, there are four million Muslims in this country – we need their votes) not by moral conviction (if you didn’t know, he’s suddenly realised unqualified support for Israel is not in his own interest). I have great faith in the Liberal Democrats taking a principled stand on the outrageous abuses of human rights in Gaza, and in calling out the commission of war crimes by both sides. I know many senior Lib Dems would like to see Israel being advised not to fall into the trap set them by Hamas, and to draw back from the punitive response to the Hamas outrages on October 7th, to stop the bombing, and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Can we have that said by our leadership a bit more loudly, please ?
What do Liberal Democrats stand for? We stand for Human Rights and Internationalism. As Liberal Democrats we believe wholeheartedly in the universal principles of human rights, democracy, international law and the self-determination of peoples. 86% of Liberal Democrats in the YouGov poll responded that there definitely/probably should be a ceasefire so I struggle to understand why Ed Davey’s voice is so mute at a time like this, where the atrocities and human suffering in this war – on all sides – are so clear, and so very painful, to witness. As John points out, with our 2021 conference motion Towards a Lasting Peace in Israel and Palestine, our leaders have the support of our members, to speak out boldly and show a different way forward, as Layla Moran and Alistair Carmichael are doing. Why is it that it takes a representative of a regime that beheads a dissident journalist in one of its embassies and has waged a terrible war on Yemen, that has led to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, to point out to Western leaders where they have gone so wrong? At a time like this we as Liberal Democrats should lead with integrity and shout our values from the rooftop rather than simply profess them.
Referencing Saudi Arabia – one of the most repressive regimes on the planet & guilty of the deaths more than 10,000 Yemini civilians through Western supplied jets – isn’t everybody’s idea of a peace broker … Ultimately history has shown that the Israeli govt is not interested in peace & the Western governments that back it – trot out all the usual meaningless condemnations ..
Two things.
I remember when Prince Turki bin Faisal was Saudi ambassador to London at the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. David Dimbleby hosted a high powered debate on the BBC in the run up to the war. The question was asked: will the overthrow of Saddam Hussein reduce terrorism? Prince Turki was in the audience and said “no, it will increase it”. You could see from the stunned expressions on faces around him that they thought he was deluded, or perhaps just regurgitating Arab propaganda. But he was right. That is the big problem with an Israeli invasion of Gaza to destroy Hamas.
The second thing is that I heard from Sir Vincent Fean (former British consul-general in Jerusalem) tonight that Sabri Saidam, a Gazan who is former Palestine Authority minister of education and now a member of the PLO central committee, has just lost 44 members of his extended family in Gaza. May they, like all the other victims of the 7th October and the aftermath, rest in peace.
It is time to call robustly for a cease-fire.
John Kelly,
Looking at the Autumn 2021 Conference motion (https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/motions/autumn-2021/f39) I am pleased to see that it implies that East Jerusalem should be the capital of the Palestinian state. Looking at the Arab League peace initiative of 2002, that you provided the link to, I see it includes, ‘Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194’. This resolution states that ‘refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible’. The motion passed at our Autumn 2021 Conference does not include this.
These two issues were not resolved at the 2000 Camp David Summit. I can’t see Israel changing its position on these issues soon.
@John…Corbyn put it far better in his Hyde park speech in 2003 as regards the Iraq invasion..
“This will set off a spiral of conflict, of hate, of misery, of desperation, that will fuel the wars, the conflict, the terrorism, the depression and the misery of future generations.”
Right on Iraq , Afghanistan & Libya – Something the establishment will never forgive…
While those that sent British soldiers to die on a pack of lies – are lauded as international statesman..It would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic…
Finding a path to peace is more urgent than ever before, if further bloodshed and misery are to be avoided. But peace without justice will be no peace at all, so making the security considerations of one party (but not of the other) the bedrock of a solution is bound to fail. Yet that is what the West has done so far with its deeply flawed Road Map. Amazingly, no Western leader has argued that any peace process must be firmly founded on the clear requirements of international law above all other considerations: (1) that conquered territory may under no circumstances be annexed; (2) that the law of occupation must in the meantime be respected to the letter; (3) that both peoples have a right to self-determination and that the ‘right to exist’ cannot morally be advanced for one state without insisting on the creation of the other, as the 1947 UN Partition Plan demanded. What is missing is a party with the courage to challenge others who try to brush these vital principles under the carpet because they think one or other of the protagonists won’t like it. Have the LibDems the tenacity of purpose to demand absolute obedience to the international laws and principles which the UK helped create?
One further point.
After the intensification of the siege of Gaza since 7 October and the undoubted devastating casualties from the Israeli bombardment, it now seems altogether implausible that Israel can conduct a surgical, precision operation to remove Hamas from Gaza.
Western politicians who are betting on Israel being able to achieve this look like they are going to lose their money. It must be back to the drawing board for planning a way forward that will get Israel, Palestine and the rest of the world out of this.
This is an important piece by John Kelly and the most important section, largely ignored by western media, is the revelation (known to all of us who follow the Palestinian cause closely) that Israel has been actively encouraging the strengthening of Hamas in Gaza in their own interests. Ed Davey should obviously condemn the Israeli response to the Hamas attacks and completely distance himself from the comments made by Rishi Sunak. It is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership that would be in contrast to the two main parties and which has strong support from the wider UK public.
Thank you John for this well-thought-out and spot-on analysis and call to action. I agree Libdems need to differentiate ourselves from Labour and Conservatives and show leadership by calling for an immediate ceasefire, supporting the overwhelming public sentiment. We also should reiterate publicly our policy Towards a Lasting Peace for Israel, overwhelmingly voted for by LibDem members . We were the leaders against the illegal Iraq War and should show similar leadership now.
Thank you for this clear and important piece.
One of the reasons I joined the Liberal Democrats a few years ago was the party’s internationalism, its concern for justice and human rights, and its apparent concern for the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis. We’d of course expect a strong empathetic response by our Party to the Hammas atrocities. But it’s been a shock to subsequently seen the party leadership apparently standing by Netanyahu’s inhumane and completely short-sighted bombing of Gazans, as if a state’s mass killing of innocents in plain sight could ever be justifiable, and as if the wider repercussions for that region aren’t glaringly obvious. If Lib Dems can’t make a stand for their principles they will lose a great number of their members, including myself.
Just listening to the news that the Israelis have carried out more than 300 air strikes in Gaza overnight. Its difficult to see how this can in any way be seen as targeted against Hamas.
It is high time that we Lib Dems differentiated ourselves from the other parties and make it clear that we do not accept this as in any way appropriate or proportionate.
Ed Davey needs to make a clear and public statement that we demand better than this and call for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations under the auspices of the UN, war crimes are being committed and we are being asked to be silent witnesses. Nothing that has gone before justifies this response from Israel, it is becoming very clear that they intend to destroy Gaza completely.
I wonder what Charles Kennedy would have been saying today?
Israel will no doubt use the Hamas attacks as an opportunity to grab more territory.
Will the UN object? Hopefully.
Will the US veto any proposed action against Israel? Probably.
Will Israel continue to do whatever it likes. Of course.