Correspondance with the Government……

‘From time to time I like to hear the first hand account of our country’s standing in the world.  The only place from which to get the answers is the Government Ministers themselves.  It’s not a regular habit so I do not feel I am harrassing our Ministers an a daily basis, but for this particular issue I felt I needed to seek clarification’

By Email:

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

William Hague MP

Dear Mr. Hague

I am writing to express my concerns with the UKs foreign policy and for clarification with regard to its implementation.

The recent issues with Russia, Ukraine and Crimea have led to sanctions being imposed against individuals, including the freezing of bank accounts and limiting travel. There may be other sanctions of which I am unaware but your Government have chosen, quite reasonably, to take some action. A similar state of affairs exists regarding the issues with Syria.

What concerns me is the apparent lack of action when Israel breaches international laws and ignores UN resolutions. The “mainstream” media is undoubtedly biased in the reporting of events in Israel and Palestine and appears to give the impression that Israel acts in a democratic manner, whereas the Palestinians are portrayed as the aggressor and, worse still, that they are some kind of “terrorist” organisation. To anybody with deeper knowledge of the Palestinians position and, based on international laws, it is Israel which is the aggressor, building settlements in occupied territories and applying inhumane and degrading treatment of Palestinians at the checkpoints that they are forced to use, treating them as second class citizens in what is their country.   In contrast, the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are connected by roadways built exclusively for the Israelis, connecting the illegal settlements, further dividing Palestinian land and protected by electrified fences.

When one hears of the horror a Palestinian lady in labour being made to wait at a checkpoint for many hours, only to have her ID papers thrown back into her face, leading to the death of her child which she gave birth to on the roadside. Israelis are simply waved through in their specially constructed roads and one cannot reach any conclusion other than a deliberate action by Israel to further de-humanise the Palestinian people who have already lost 78% of their historical homeland, within living memory of the older residents.

We hear little, if any, sanctions being put in place against Israel. Your Government is proactively involved in arms trading with Israel. It could be British bullets that kill innocent children on a frequent basis. No action is taken against Israel despite UN resolutions telling them they are in breach of international law, and Britain plays a positive roll in supporting the Israelis

One who is suspicious of diplomatic relations can be led to only one conclusion; there are no specific rules by which diplomacy is applied. It as a cabal of nations and you are either “in favour” or “a pariah”. As the eloquent George W. Bush put it, “You are either with us or you are against us”. The convenience of “al Qaeda”, the invisible, non geographical “terrorists” are wheeled out to place the blame upon whenever an incongruent enemy is needed. I do not condone the killing of innocent civilians under any circumstances and that includes the hundreds of thousands of civilian lives, or collateral damage caused by our involvement in the conflicts of the Middle East. “Mission accomplished” is how David Cameron described Afghanistan recently. I have two questions regarding “mission accomplished”; first what mission has been accomplished and was that mission objective we set out to achieve in the originally. By my recollection America began indiscriminately dropping bombs in the mountains to “smoke him [Osama bin Laden] out, followed by a ground invasion to destroy the “al Qaeda” training camps (if one considers some monkey bars and a sheet of camouflage to crawl under a “training camp”).

Put simply, can the Minister explain why some nations are allowed to ignore international laws without redress, whilst others, and there are many, seem to carry one regardless, often with our support. Who decides which regimes we are happy to do business with and which are left out “in the cold”.

If the Minister feels unable to reflect upon these issues and explain the incongruities, I respectfully request that he finds someone who can explain the Government’s logic, up to and including the Prime Minister who is the Commander in Chief of our armed forces.

Yours sincerely

Mr. Stephen P. Walker.

 

‘Ill keep you posted when I get a reply…….’

Ceasefire……

The Fighting Stops, for Now……

Thankfully, the ceasefire between Israel and Palestine appears to be holding.  I note that the way in which it was reported in the press has taken the usual rhetorical zeitgeist.  The BBC news website described the ceasefire as being between Israel and ‘the Islamist Hamas movement’.  This is true of most of the popular news outlets.  Nowhere was the ceasefire described as being between the occupying Jewish Israeli Government and the Palestinians.  Hamas have governed Gaza and some other parts of Palestine having won a majority in the 2006 election.  This gives them a mandate to govern which is more than can be said for our current coalition and, whether western governments like it or not, Palestine is an Islamic democracy, unlike Saudi Arabia which is not.  Although, this fact doesn’t seem to bother the British and American Governments who are happy to supply huge amounts of military hardware to them and Israel……

How Long Will the Ceasefire Last……

Unfortunately, I fear the fighting is destined to resume at some point in the foreseeable future.  It will probably be Hamas who fire the first shots but this will be out of desperation rather than malice and a wish to have hundreds of innocent citizens killed in the crossfire.  The problem lies with the Israelis.  We are back to the two state solution and the fact that it simply will not happen without the political will of the Israeli Government and pressure from the UN, UK and US Governments for Israel to respect the UN Resolutions, 30 of which Israel it is in breach of and, the Geneva Conventions.  Here is a map of the region showing the extent of the illegal Israeli settlements.

Illegal Israeli Settlements

It also shows some of the roads which are exclusively for the use of Israeli settlers.  You can probably imagine the fury of the Palestinians when they are made to wait, sometimes for hours, at Israeli roadblocks whilst the occupying Israeli settlers breeze through on their own modern highways.  It’s like rubbing salt into an open wound……

A Conundrum……

Adolph Hitler committed some if the most unimaginably vile crimes against the Jewish people and exterminated six million.  A group of people who have suffered this sort of treatment within living memory you would think would be sensitive to human rights.  This is why I find it so hard to understand why they behave the way they do with regard to the Palestinians.  It is also pretty clear that western interests are prepared to stand aside and allow crimes to be committed.  We have started wars with other nations for lesser reasons.  Until the Israelis are forced to comply the Palestinians have very few options but to fight for their territory and right to an economic future, healthcare, education and development.  I am not anti-Semitic.  I do not care what religion you choose or the colour of your skin.  All I care about is human rights and, from where I’m standing, Israel needs to put its house in order.

The Official Line……

The Department for International Development is giving £86 million per year in aid to the Palestinians.  Here’s a link to their glossy literature which is full rhetoric about ‘Wealth Creation’, ‘Health and Welfare’ and ‘Redevelopment and Rebuilding’ .  However, when the Israelis are blocking the basic materials needed to build homes and medical supplies it’s hard to see how this aid is reaching Palestine…….

‘This is unlikely to be the last time this subject will appear in my blog.  I have written to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to ask if we are putting official pressure on Israel and, if not, why not?  Please do the same: haugew@parliament.uk.  I also intend to raise a petition through change.org.  Please sign it when you get the link.’

 

Regards

The Dripping Tap……

Addendum – Owen Jones, the Independent columnist appeared on tonight’s Question Time.   I think the points he made about Israel are valid, as did the audience.   Thank you Owen for telling it like it is.  Israel is in the wrong and the Palestinians are the oppressed and the sooner the rest of the world can see this, the sooner the Palestinians will have a state and a future…….