British ministers stonewall criticism of Israel

Westminster still in awe of Israel's
"gang of amoral thugs"

By Stuart Littlewood*

Stuart Littlewood describes how, in a British

Parliament debate about Gaza,

ministers, including at least one former

chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel

lobby group, dodged difficult questions about

UK support of Israel and stonewalled

criticism of Israeli crimes.

Last week there was a debate on Gaza in

the UK Parliament. Very few people turned up.

MP Jeremy Corbyn reminded everyone

that 36 of the 39 Hamas Palestinian

Legislative Council members the

Israelis abducted in 2006 were still

detained and some hadn't even been charged.

"We cannot stand by and allow elected members of a fellow parliament to be arrested and held without charge or trial in Israeli prisons� More Palestinian legislators are in prison than legislators from all the other parliaments in the rest of the world put together. I hope that the minister will tell us that serious pressure has been put on Israel to release those parliamentarians."

He also raised questions on settlements, the

blockade of Gaza and the West's refusal to

talk to Hamas. The minister with

responsibility for the Middle East, Dr Kim Howells

(a former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel),

replied: "The government recognizes the impact

and scale of the problems and the need to

address all of them." He then dismissed

Hamas as "a rejectionist Palestinian group"

and tried to equate Gaza's home-made rocket

launchings with Israel's crippling siege and

high-tech military onslaughts that have

killed 169 (at the time of writing) people

and maimed hundreds more since the

Annapolis peace meeting.

"The United Kingdom urges restraint

on all parties," was as firm as the minister got.

As for Hamas, a political dialogue was impossible

as long as one party was dedicated to violence

and the destruction of the other. "The bedrock

of our approach is to give every support to those

who are committed to peaceful progress."

What of the 90 chronically sick hospital

patients who have died in agony for lack of drugs,

equipment spares and proper nutrition,

and over 300 more who face a similar fate unless

the blockade is lifted? Well, desperate Gazans

will be relieved to know that, according to

Howells, "the United Kingdom remains

committed to supporting Palestinians in Gaza".

Douglas Alexander, Secretary of state for

International Development, also fielded

questions. Asked what assistance his

department was providing to the people of Gaza,

he said: "I and the foreign secretary have made

repeated pleas to the Israeli, government to

recognize their obligations and ensure that

the crossings are open for humanitarian supplies."

Sir Gerald Kaufman asked:

"Is it not a fact that only international action can bring to an end the humanitarian disaster caused by collective punishment imposed by the gang of amoral thugs who comprise the Israeli government and violate not only international law but the historic Jewish conscience?"

Sir Gerald is one of many well-regarded Jews who

are dismayed and disgusted with the Israeli government.

"The British Government have been unequivocal

in stating that Israel should abide by its

commitment under the Fourth Geneva

Convention," came the reply.

Another MP, Michael Moore, said:

"We are appalled by the scale of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, but does the secretary of state agree that we have reached an extraordinary state of affairs when a UN representative can say: �Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the acquiescence of the international community? Does the secretary of state think that the scale of the Israeli response is disproportionate?"

Alexander twittered about "active diplomatic efforts".

In December he had discussed the Israeli government's

"defence posture and humanitarian obligations" with

Ehud Barak. Foreign Secretary David Miliband had

raised those matters directly with minister Livni.

Let's blame it on the rockets

Then David Winnick asked:

"Cannot the Western powers ‑ certainly this country, and I would hope the US ‑ be much firmer with Israel and say that its actions cause dismay throughout the civilized world? How would Israeli citizens like to be subject to what the citizens of Gaza are subjected to by Israeli occupation?"

This had Alexander ducking and weaving. It was

time to play the Israel lobby's trump card ‑ Qassams!

"Ultimately, both the Palestinians and the people of

Israel have legitimate security concerns, but that is

no reason why humanitarian supplies should not

reach Gaza, nor why rockets should be fired on the

Israeli population," he said. "It is imperative that

all sides recognize their responsibilities."

Miliband and Alexander later made a joint statement:

"We continue to be deeply concerned by the growing humanitarian impact of restrictions by the government of Israel on industrial diesel supplies to Gaza. We welcome Israel's recent decision to increase the supply of industrial diesel and continue to urge them to lift all restrictions on fuel with immediate effect. We utterly condemn the rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. We support all efforts to stop these attacks consistent with obligations under international law."

Commitments to Geneva Conventions, obligations under

international law ‑ none of them amount to a row of

beans. It's time the grey suits in London and the rest

of the west understood that, if they want the law to

mean anything, they must enforce it.

Righteous condemnation of the rockets is de rigueur�

of course, though only a smokescreen. As Al-Jazeera

reports, many in the occupied territories see that

Annapolis was nothing more than an international

fascade behind which a new phase of fiercer

US-backed Israeli aggression could be ushered in.

Gaza's Qassams are a wonderful excuse for stepping

up military action in pursuit of Israel's unlawful

ambitions. In addition to the mounting atrocities

in Gaza, Israel has been conducting 20-30

incursions a week into the West Bank, rounding up

and killing members of assorted Palestinians

groups with impunity. It might spoil the Israeli

occupation forces� fun if the home-made rockets

were to stop. They'd have to invent another excuse

for their depravity.

What moral reason is there for supporting Israel?

Sir Gerald's "gang of amoral thugs" are not the

only villains. Israel's Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger

advocates ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and

says Muslims should recognize that "our land is

the Holy Land and Jerusalem belongs to us".

Metzger, reports Haaretz, wants Britain, the

European Union and the United States to help

construct a Palestinian state in Egypt's Sinai

Desert. "They will have a nice country, and we,

the Jews, shall have our country and we shall

live in peace."

However, Neturei Karta, an international group

of non-Zionist Orthodox Jews, have issued a

strongly worded press release that brands

Metzger a Zionist stooge. "Any moral person

would much prefer to see the Zionist warmongers,

including Metzger, removed from the Holy Land."

Neturei Karta argues that the state of �Israel�

is illegitimate according to Torah teachings, and

the establishment of a Jewish state is forbidden

until Jews are released from exile by God Himself,

without any human intervention, at which time

all nations of the world will live together in peace.

"Therefore, to oppress the Palestinian people,

harm them, steal their land, expel them, etc. is

totally forbidden according to our Holy Torah."

It is a mistake, they say, to believe that you

have to support Zionism in order to show

friendship to the Jewish people. "True friendship

can be demonstrated by saving all the peoples of

the Middle East, including Jews, from the blood

thirsty machinations of the dangerous state of Israel

and by dismantling the Zionist regime entirely."

When Torah experts say the regime's conduct

is incompatible with the moral teachings and

ideals of Judaism, I'm not surprised. It doesn't

sit well with Christianity either.

How can pro-Israel MPs and ministers possibly

ignore the fact that the Israeli government is

waging war against the Holy Land's Christian

communities, whom it terrorizes along with

their Muslim neighbours, and is using

pernicious administrative controls to disrupt

the life and work of the church? Many Christians

here are deeply angered by such criminality,

and it's very odd that our elected representatives,

who are mostly Christian themselves, don't feel

similarly outraged on behalf of members of the

church family who are so cruelly abused under

Israeli occupation.

Why there should be any support at all for

Israel's apartheid practices, its wholesale

land thefts, its careless slaughter of children and

the slow genocide it inflicts on defenceless civilians, the break-your-door-down-in-the-middle-of-the-

night snatch squads, the house demolitions,

the torture and assassinations? Were those same

bright people also unaware of the lies that persuaded

them to commit our country to fight Israel's war with

Iraq? I don't think so, which leaves only one other

explanation. at the heart of British government is

one of the greatest political mysteries of our time.

We share no beliefs or values and we shouldn't

even think about sharing foreign policy. Can it be

that supposedly bright people with vast sources

of information at their fingertips are still ignorant of

Of course, it's not just a Western weakness.

Arab governments have �taken the dollar�.

It's a cosy money-go-round that oils the wheels of the

self-serving political �lite and their puppet-masters

as they trample the millions they have condemned

to a life of misery.