Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

Israel

It was colder than I had expected, but the damp weather reflected the grim reality on the ground that is Israel 2004. All hopes of a rapid return to negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians seemed to have faded.

I met with politicians and officials from both sides, and the pessimism was equally shared. The blame game was in full swing.

In the absence of confidence that a negotiated peace deal is possible, and believing that the status quo is untenable, the Israeli Prime Minister has decided to act.

As you will have seen from your TV sets, the Israelis are building a fence/wall that will run from north to south separating “their bit” from the part occupied by the Palestinians, and talking of some kind of unilateral action to pull back behind this barrier.

It is in many ways understandable that 3 years of suicide bombing and many lives lost have driven them to this. They need security and the fence project – costing billions – is supported by the vast majority of their population.

Unfortunately the barrier is being built down a line that does not accord with the borders of Israel before the war in 1967, so many will claim that they are building part of it on occupied territory – i.e. someone else’s land. It will also cause major disruption to the lives of many communities divided by this new scar on the landscape. And so the violence and hostility will continue. In fact, towards the end of this year, when this unilateral step may well take place, it could get worse. With the US distracted by its own Presidential election, no meaningful intervention seems likely.

So my second overseas visit in my new capacity as shadow foreign minister drew to a close on Thursday with a sense of foreboding. This long running dispute seems set to continue.

There are several reasons why this is such bad news. I sympathise with the Israelis who live in the shadow of fear; equally I feel for the Palestinians, the vast majority of whom live in abject poverty.

But there is also another motivation to strive to find a solution. The Israel/Palestine conflict is a primary catalyst for the global terrorists who threaten our way of life. Until this historic battle for the Holy land is resolved, there will always be extremists out there who will treat it as an excuse to inflict terror on all of us.

posted by Nigel on Wednesday, January 28, 2004