Crispin Blunt

Conservative Party | Reigate

Prospects for peace in the Middle East

Crispin spoke in a one and a half hour debate in the second chamber in Westminster Hall covering prospects for peace in the Middle East.

Mr. Crispin Blunt (Reigate): I congratulate the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) on his exquisite timing in securing the debate, with the Sharm el Sheikh summit in effect under way and with the active intervention of President Bush.

I share the perspective of the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden) and of my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) on the issue. In a passionate speech, my hon. Friend made it clear why hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens on this planet, particularly those from the Islamic community, feel so passionately about the issue. That cause has to be addressed in terms of future global stability, let alone righting what many people in the United Kingdom now believe is a wrong. Over the past two or three decades, public opinion in the UK has moved from seeing the little assailed state of Israel trying to defend itself against what appear to be stronger armies and countries surrounding it. It has established its own security, so now people do not see the justice of this affair in that small state heroically trying to protect itself, given the appalling history of oppression that the Jewish people have suffered. They see that oppression now being meted out to the Palestinians by the Israelis in turn.

Last year, I saw Israeli security policy for myself on a visit to Israel and the occupied territories. My conclusion is that it is not only cruel, but wholly counter-productive. In a sense, one now sees Israel as boxed into a corner. Talking to Israelis out there, I was made aware that they see no way out, except through an extreme and tough security policy, which has almost no policy objective other than defending the immediate interests of their people by defending them as best they can against the threat of suicide bombers. Of course, the consequence of that policy is simply to breed more suicide bombers, not only among the Palestinian population, but among Islamic radicals, who join the Palestinian cause in a wholly unwelcome way.

I saw what are perhaps the more cynical parts of Israeli policy. The Palestinian Authority was expected to detain the people whom the Israelis identified as terrorists. The authority did detain a terrorist identified by the Israelis. He was put into prison in Nablus, under the control of the authority. Then, on the basis of information received and having identified the cell that they believed he was in, the Israelis sent a fighter-bomber to attack the prison and to attempt to kill the prisoner inside the jail.

Mr. Frank Cook (Stockton, North): Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Mr. Blunt: I will not, if the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, because I have only three minutes.

The prisoner crawled wounded out of the wreckage, but what does one say to the families of the prison officers who are dead as a result of that Israeli policy? One saw the action of the Israeli Government systematically destroy the effectiveness of the Palestinian Authority as an act of policy. Then it becomes wholly unreasonable for the Israelis to turn round and ask, "Why is the Palestinian Authority incapable of acting against the terrorists among its own population?"

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However, it is important for those of us who see the injustice being meted out to the Palestinians to rotate the chessboard and to see it from the point of view of the Israeli population. I see the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) here, who represents a significant proportion of the Jewish population in the UK. In the short time remaining to me, let me say that it is crucial that we understand the perspective not only of the Jewish people living in Israel, but of the Jewish diaspora.

We accept that the role of the British Government will be to support the roadmap and to do all they can to bring about a settlement, but there is one community in our country that has a very important role to play in recognising the injustice that is being done to the Palestinians and in understanding that this is a historic moment—the Jewish community. The Jewish community in the United States is even more important in that respect.

It is a historic moment, when compromise is available. If anyone can deliver a solution to the settlement issue, it is surely a Prime Minister who is seen as a champion of the settlers. If anyone can face up to the need for a historic compromise and return to boundaries giving the Palestinians 22 per cent. of the land of the original Palestine to establish their state, it is Prime Minister Sharon, with the reputation that he has built, rightly or wrongly, in his past 50 years of involvement in Israel's army and politics.

Considering that, I hope that the Jewish community in the United Kingdom will support the voices of moderation and those seeking compromise in the Jewish community in Israel. I hope that the hon. Member for Hendon, who will not be able to speak today, and other hon. Members who represent significant numbers of Jewish people will focus on the fact that it is not only ordinary British and other citizens who want a solution based on justice. The self-interest of Israel and Jewish people around the world, and the security interests of us all, are now tied up in the historic opportunity of taking the roadmap to a successful conclusion. We must wish it well.

To read the full debate on the Middle East peace process simply click here.