Gaza - good news for now

Was going to blog about the Israeli ceasefire last night, but thought anything I posted would have been out of date before anyone read it in the morning. Glad that Hamas have now joined in.

UK has announced an extra £20m aid, and the priority now has to be getting that through, which means urgent negotiations on re-opening the crossings and - the quid pro quo - closing the tunnels and stopping the arms smuggling. And we need a long-term settlement; not much point rebuilding Gaza if it's going to be bombed and bulldozed again.

This is what Gordon said:

"Our first priority - a humanitarian imperative - is to get food and medical treatment to those who so urgently need it. We will focus our efforts on support to the UN agencies who are doing such courageous work in the most difficult environments. We will help transport those civilians in most need of treatment to hospitals in the West Bank. We will also support children traumatised by the violence, rebuild schools and hospitals and clear unexploded bombs and shells. Israel must allow full access to humanitarian workers and to relief supplies. We must also end Gaza's economic isolation by reopening the crossings that link it to the outside world."

Gaza in Parliament

Too busy to blog during the days at the moment, and too tired now... But quick update on Gaza.

Very good statement from David Miliband in the Chamber on Monday. Loads of MPs tried to get in, but the Speaker cut the debate off after an hour. Very clear message from the Foreign Secretary, repeating calls for an immediate ceasefire and endorsement of the EU position that Israel's response was 'disproportionate'. Spoke to several Labour MPs who have been at the forefront of campaigning for the Palestinian cause over the years, and general feeling is that David is doing sterling work on this.

Gaza also came up at the PLP meeting, with Gordon saying that we're focusing on two objectives (obviously apart from the immediate task of securing a ceasefire): to get the crossings re-opened, and to end arms-smuggling through the tunnels.

Not long after that I received an urgent email from a constituent about the rumoured threat to the Free Gaza ship, asking me to call David Miliband. As it happened, I picked up the email on my new gadget-thingy whilst in a briefing on Gaza for Labour MPs with Bill Rammell, the FCO Minister for the Middle East, so took it up with him on our way down to vote. Followed up with him today, and it turned out the ship had mechanical problems and had had to turn back anyway - but good on him, he'd gone away after I'd spoken to him and made sure he knew what was going on.

David M wasn't at FCO questions today, as he's on a visit to India, so Bill fielded all the questions on Gaza. And then he appeared again this evening at the launch of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, which has been several months in planning but obviously has added relevance in today's situation. Absolutely packed suite in Portcullis House, including loads of Labour MPs - at a rough guess I'd say about 50, which was pretty good going seeing as business in the Chamber finished very early today. Speakers included Jocelyn Hurndall, the mother of Tom, a peace activist who was killed by an IDF soldier; he died five years ago today, and she gave a very moving speech, linking how she felt as a mother when she heard the news of his death with the deaths of so many children in Gaza.

Gaza will obviously come up again at PMQs tomorrow - I expect Cameron to split his questions between Gaza and the economy. If he doesn't go on Gaza, there's a pretty good chance Nick Clegg will. I've got question 9 but not sure they'll get to me - lots of Labour people above me, which means the Speaker will have to select additional opposition MPs, and with Cameron (six Qs) and Clegg (2 Qs) coming in too, question 9 is actually more like question 20.

Final bit of news - it was announced at the close of business today that we're breaking with tradition and Thursday's topical debate will last the whole day instead of the usual 90 minutes - so that means about five or six hours debating Gaza, which is what MPs have been calling for. The Foreign Sec will still be away, so Bill will be holding the fort again.

And yet more on Gaza

Just been reading Iain Dale's latest posting on Gaza, "Hamas's Useful Idiots". Always a bit of a cheap shot that, interpreting opposition to one side's actions as wholehearted endorsement of what the other side stands for (as in, all opponents of the war in Iraq = apologists for Saddam Hussein).

Today's report on injuries to children in Gaza reminded me of a conversation I had with an aid worker in a refugee camp in the West Bank, a couple of years ago, about the almost total lack of counselling services or awareness of the psychological impact on children of the ongoing conflict. The casualty figures in Gaza are horrific - the Guardian guide states 512 dead, 2,300 injured on the Palestinian side, 5 dead, 62 injured on the Israeli side - but these relate to physical injuries. The toll on the mental health of people living in Gaza - and, I accept, those living in fear of Hamas rocket attacks in Israel - will be much higher.

Have received an invite to meet with Bill Rammell, the FCO Minister, tomorrow for an update, so will be going along to the FCO for that. Will try to put to him all the questions people have raised with me in emails.

More on Gaza

Tomorrow's Times has an interesting article from Rabbi Michael Lerner as well as this report on the alleged use of white phosporous shells, and Gordon Brown breaking ranks with the US in calling for an immediate ceasefire.

One recurring theme during this conflict is just how much both sides are convinced the media is entirely biased against them and is presenting a distorted pro-Israeli/ pro-Palestinian line. For example, I - and presumably all other MPs - have been getting regular, almost daily emails from an organisation called The Israel Project, whose purported mission is to provide accurate information to the media. See for example its Fiction-v-Fact in Gaza. (Not, I should hasten to add, an endorsement... it doesn't reflect what the FCO and DFID believe to be the situation on the ground, nor what I have been told in updates from organisations like Save the Children.)

Representations from MPs on Gaza

Thought people might want to see the statement on Gaza being signed by MPs, and the letter to David Miliband. For reasons previously explained on here, I'm not signing either but making my own representations in my own way.

"STOP THE SLAUGHTER IN GAZA

Israel’s continuing massive military strikes on Gaza are an outrage that the international community must not allow to continue. Palestinian rocket attacks which traumatise the lives of communities in Southern Israel are also utterly unacceptable. Both sides must cease fire.

Israel’s actions are disproportionate and counter productive to achieving either security for the people of Israel or peace in the Middle East. Physicians for Human Rights (Israel) have warned that “targeting of civilians and of medical facilities is a breach of international humanitarian law. The targets chosen by the Israeli military include also clearly civilian installations.”

Gaza is one of the poorest and most densely populated places on earth. For the last two years, the blockade and previous Israeli strikes had already disrupted electricity supplies and access to clean water. Even before the current attack, Gaza’s health system was near collapse. Hospitals are short of medicines, blood and essential equipment. Only half of Gaza’s 58 ambulances are functioning.

We call on the international community, and especially the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to intervene to stop the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire by all parties and for an embargo on the supply of military equipment to both sides. The international community must also assert unambiguously that there is no military route to peace in the Middle East and redouble its efforts to create a secure and independent state of Palestine alongside a secure and independent Israel."


"Dear David

Three hundred people have lost their lives in Gaza over the last three days. In any conflict and any battle in today’s world such a wide scale loss of life would be met with deep despair and a sense of failure.

We are writing together with the new organisation Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East to thank you for your clear statement that the number of lives lost in Gaza over the last few days is unacceptable. We fully support your call for a cessation of violence and ask that you also make a statement as soon as Parliament resumes. We will be calling for an urgent debate, which I hope you will support, to enable the voice of the House of Commons to be heard.

The Israeli Defence Force has entered Gaza with extreme force and without apparent concern or apology for the loss of civilian life. We urge you to endorse the statement by the UN Secretary General that the Israeli government’s actions are "excessive". On Monday, the UN estimated the number of deaths at 320, of whom 62 were women and children, against two deaths on the Israeli side. Estimates that are more recent have put the death toll at 347 with more than 800 wounded.

This development is deeply concerning both in itself and in the longer term. We believe that there can be no military solution and would further suggest that excessive military force of this kind is bound to be counterproductive and will inevitably sharpen the sense of injustice in the region.

The conflict in Gaza should not be seen in isolation. We are concerned by the continuing expansion of settlements in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, by the confiscation of Palestinian land, by the proliferation of checkpoints and by other restrictions on Palestinian movement. In relative terms, the West Bank is peaceful at present, but further tensıons are being stoked up which could foreseeable overspill into violence.

As we enter this bleak period, probably the most dangerous since 1967, we ask you to send a clear signal from this country that excessive and disproportionate military force is counterproductive and will not resolve the conflict.

Yours sincerely...."

Catching up

Back home now. Catching up on coverage of Gaza, having had only intermittent access to the internet and newspapers while I was away, and no TV at all. Here's what caught my attention...

I don't normally bother with the Indy's website, but they've got some interesting pieces by Robert Fisk and Johann Hari, plus Mark Steel doing what he does. The Times has a different slant on it, pointing out a possible risk to Israel's 'secret' nuclear plant. The Guardian has an 'interactive guide' to the attacks, which at first I thought sounded like a sick computer game, but it gives a good picture of what has been happening and where. And the interactive guide to the occupation of the West Bank is excellent although it's from May 2007.

Of course what's been happening in the last week or so is only part of the story; the BBC site is good on the impact of the economic blockade since June 2007. And the Times gives details of Britain's new commitment of £6.9m humanitarian aid to Gaza, but highlights the difficulties we will have in getting it to where it's needed. More on the DFID website, including a couple of statements from the boss (and a report on his pre-Xmas visit to Bristol. Seems like a very long time ago now.)

As far as I know there have been two letters circulating amongst Labour MPs - the letter that appeared in the Guardian on New Year's Eve, and also a letter to the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. Will update as things happen.

Arise Sir Shimon...

I was alerted to this by an email from a constituent tonight. Didn't see it in any of the UK papers and still can't find it reported in any of them. He follows in the footsteps of Bill Gates, Bob Geldof and Bono.

Paul McCartney in Tel Aviv

Should Paul McCartney have played in Israel? Discuss.

Over the wall

Entertaining spat on the Spectator site between Melanie Phillips and Daniel 'the Badgers' Friend' Kawczynski MP although it seems to have ended with apologies all round.

Also worth checking out her original article (which, for the avoidance of doubt, isn't an endorsement of her views!)