Panellists in Birmingham discussed the future of both Israel and Palestine during a fringe event hosted by the New Statesman and Medical Aid for Palestinians. The panel were downbeat about the chances of future talks and lasting peace whilst current leadership in both Israel and Palestine remained in place but stressed the immediate push to provide desperately needed aid to Gaza.
Richard Ottaway MP, chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, started the session by expressing his dismay and anger at the recent annexation of land by Israel and explained why he thought the situation was no longer resolvable with the current leadership. Both sides were to blame for the current predicament he argued, calling Israel "antagonists and aggressive".
Ottaway stated that “I remain very much a friend and supporter of Palestine” and that “few things have made me more angry” than continued Israeli settlement expansion and in regards to an upcoming Parliamentary vote on Palestinian statehood “I'll probably abstain on the motion as I'm so angry with Israel at the moment “. Ottaway suggested that the Conservative party would be more likely to influence Israeli behaviour as “today you're hard pressed to find anybody in the Labour Party who supports Israel”.
Tony Laurance, chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, said it was "very easy to be gloomy" about the future of Palestine and its people. He described Palestine as a "dependent welfare state" where unemployment was 45 per cent and young people had few opportunities to progress and develop. Unless something was done soon, Palestine would continue to be a "festering sore" on the international stage he said.
Laurance noted how vital infrastructure projects in Palestine, such as the power plant and sewage works had been deliberately targeted during the recent conflict, and as a result Palestinians were suffering; “whole areas were destroyed and 67 hospitals and clinics damaged. Israel's strategy is to manage the conflict and it’s deeply misguided in the policies that it is pursuing which are against its own long term interests”. It was hard to see how or when things would change he admitted, especially as Israel was not willing to bring about change, the Arab world was focussed elsewhere and America was constrained by Congress. He called on the European Union, as Israel's biggest trading partner, to take the lead in bringing a solution to the region and use its leverage - “the onus rests firmly with Europe and Britain in particular - we have a real interest in seeing change. We must not sit on our hands" he warned.
Jessica Purkiss, a journalist at Middle East Monitor warned that there was now a generation of disenchanted youths in Gaza and warned that in the long term this could present as a serious challenge to Israeli security. She believed that a two state solution was no longer viable and advocated a one state solution with equal rights. "Politics is the art of the possible" Ottaway said, noting how a one state solution would be ideal, but near impossible to achieve. Laurance agreed that such an outcome would be hard to achieve, but admitted that he found the idea of a two state solution harder and harder to believe in.
A Conservative member from Fulham asked what the long term strategy for the Israeli Government should be. Ottaway said that Israeli believed it was in a fight for survival and felt it was under siege.
Tony Laurance believed Israel had shifted to the right in recent years and the "left and pacifist movement" was in decline.
A representative from Hereford asked the panel to consider that Israel, like Palestine, was not monolithic in the views of its people and that many Israelis wanted peace. Former MEP Robert Atkins called on the EU to step in and asked why the UK didn’t take a more prominent role. Ottaway believed the recent annexation of Palestinian land could prove to be the tipping point, both amongst politicians and the general public. He noted it was time for the EU to step up and help in the region. Laurance agreed that the EU had to step in and "wake up the silent majority in Israel".
One delegate urged Ottaway to convince the government to take a lead on the issue and not wait for America and the EU to take action and another asked whether Hamas should recognise Israel. Ottaway didn’t feel that a country actively involved in terrorism should be recognised but added that Hamas were very popular and so a dialogue with them was appropriate. Purkiss said it was time to capitalise on changing public opinion in Israel and called on both the UK and EU to step up.
Delegates then asked about the possible leadership changes in America, the EU and Britain in the coming years and whether this would have an impact on the development and the peace process. Purkiss conceded that she was not optimistic about the future and Ottaway believed that a change in leadership wouldn’t necessarily shift policy. Ottaway suggested that a Labour government was far more pro-Palestinian than the Conservatives and their "feel for Israel" was severely limited. Bob Stewart MP (Con, Beckenham) spoke from the floor about Israel committing war crimes in bombing civilian areas in Gaza, regardless of whether there were rockets based there or not. He was just as critical of Palestine firing rockets into Israel and suggested that if Gaza could control Hamas, "a lot could change". "Something has to move" he added.