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Will nothing spur Britain to act?By Stuart Littlewood* 24 January 2008 Stuart Littlewood considers British Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s weasel words following a pointless meeting with Palestinian “Prime Minister” Salam Fayyad – words that are deliberately devoid of substance and intended to avoid helping starving Gaza. While the pain of Gaza was being ratcheted-up unbearably by Israel's blockade, the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, and the “prime minister” of the Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad, met in London to... er, to do what exactly? To discuss Gaza, we're told. We know who Miliband is. He looks like a Boy Scout in long trousers, comes from nowhere and has little real-world experience outside the cosy bubble of politics. Fayyad is not so well known to us in the West. His appointment as emergency prime minister is in breach of the Basic Law, but accepting that someone has to fill the void, he’s better than most, judging from his impressive history. However, he has problems enough without the burden of being called a "good fella" by Bush. This, together with his formative years spent at the University of Texas and a career with the World Bank in Washington, invites speculation that Fayyad is Washington's man being groomed to take over as Palestinian quisling supremo when Abbas is elbowed out. The immediate test for him is how to include Gaza in the peace process when Israel and the West want this thorn in their side excluded or eliminated. His other difficulty is that he has no democratic mandate to speak for the Palestinian people as a whole. According to the press release that followed their meeting, Mr Miliband said:
Is that it then, David, the sum total of your position on Gaza? A journalist asked:
Our Boy Scout replied:
Gee, thanks Miliband, is that a yes or a no? With innocent people dying in agony every day in Gaza, your woolly response really moves things forward. My question to you dear boy, had I been in the audience, would have been this: Why don't you personally nip over to Gaza for a chat with Hamas? You would learn something to advantage and undoubtedly have your eyes opened. It could create an honourable turning point. Or is that what you are so desperate to avoid? It might get in the way of plans for Gaza’s total humiliation and Hamas’s annihilation, is that it? Well, dear boy, the Gazans could teach you and the rest of the cowardly Labour government in Westminster some much-needed lessons in true grit and raw courage. Meanwhile, not even an impassioned plea from the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem and the Holy Land could spur our Boy Scout and his troop to action. Under the headline “In the name of God, end the siege over Gaza”, their message said:
"Act" being the operative word. No more pathetic wringing of hands, please. When is Britain going to act? When indeed are the EU and the United Nations going to act? Riyad Mansour, the permanent Palestinian observer to the UN, has told the Security Council that the situation is "absolutely untenable" and that "the Israeli policy of brinkmanship is creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, heightening fears and tensions, inciting, provoking and fuelling the vicious and dreaded cycle of violence." The Heads of Churches ended their plea with these memorable words:
You'd think Israel would have the sense to tread carefully. People around the world recently saw what Israel's brave troops can do against Lebanese women and children, and were shocked. Now we see what they can do, with tanks, armoured bulldozers, F-16 attack jets, helicopter gunships, drones and naval patrol boats, against an already impoverished community squeezed into a tiny sandy strip called Gaza, shut off from their neighbours and equipped only with home-made rockets. Does anyone in Tel Aviv believe the Israel lobbies that have sucked up so successfully to Western governments could survive in the face of mounting public anger and disgust? Many must be asking why Britain and others don’t simply send a few warships to land supplies on Gaza's beach? Any retaliation could cost Israel dear. Thirty per cent of Israel's exports go to the EU. All the EU has to do is suspend trade and turn off cooperation, just like Israel switches off the power and blocks Gaza's imports and exports. We have an old saying in England: "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander." *Stuart Littlewood is a businessman-turned-writer from Norfolk, England. He recently published a book entitled Radio Free Palestine about the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. See details on www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk. Copyright © Redress Information & Analysis. All rights reserved. |
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