Middle East (Hansard, 20 July 1981)

§ Mr. Tony Marlow (Northampton, North)
I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 9, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the crisis in the Middle East".
At 11 o'clock on Friday 17 July seven aircraft of the Israeli Air Force unleashed a savage bombardment on the Beirut suburb of Fakehani. It is estimated that 300 people were killed and 800 injured. The raid was concentrated on an area containing the offices of the PLO, the umbrella organisation through which 4¼ million disinherited, displaced and, in many cases, impoverished Palestinians seek legitimately, and in a variety of ways, to advance their nationhood.
The majority of the casualties, however, were civilians, Lebanese and Palestinian, young and old, women and children. Fakehani is an area containing jerry-built, multi-storey tenements, teeming with population, many themselves refugees from the violence in Southern Lebanon, and saturated with shops, hand-barrows, and the necessary paraphernalia of busy city life. It is easy to imagine the mayhem that such an attack would have caused.
The raid was ordered by Menachem Begin, the same man who ordered the slaughter of British soldiers and British civilians at the King David hotel. Old terrorists never die; they merely become more arrogant and inhuman.
The pretext for this onslaught was the attack by Palestinian Katyusha rockets on Kiryat Shimonah, in which three Israelis died—300 against three. This attack itself was a meagre gesture of defiance against massive Israeli raids which preceded it. It seems that Mr. Begin—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Gentleman must direct the attention of the House to why he thinks that there should be an emergency debate of the House. He is not free merely to make an ex parte speech, which might call for a reply.

§ Mr. Marlow
I was just setting out the specificity of the matter. The urgency follows from the fact that the Lebanon is not merely a far-away place, purely of moral concern to Britain. It is the siren that lures the United States on to the rocks of injustice and alienation from 28 moderate opinion in the Middle East. It is the cauldron that could start a chain reaction to world war. It is a daily slur and insult to Arab pride and dignity, which in turn could produce as yet undreamt of dislocation to the world economy.
I believe that hon. Members in all parts of the House support the European initiative—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."]—to bring peace to the Middle East. I believe that the peace and prosperity of this country is to a large extent dependent on this initiative succeeding. It is fundamental that we should have a debate on the issue, which has created massive shock waves in the Middle East and is a massive threat to peace in the world. It is a second Guernica. It is an atrocity to rank with Lidice and Oradour-sur-Glane. It should be seen as such. It is incumbent upon the House to debate the matter without delay.

§ Mr. Speaker
The hon. Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow) gave me notice before 12 o'clock midday that he would seek leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 9, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely, the crisis in the Middle East.
The House has listened with anxiety to the remarks of the hon. Gentleman about a dangerous and difficult situation. As the House knows, under Standing Order No. 9 I am directed to take into account the several factors set out in the order but to give no reasons for my decision.
I have given careful consideration to the representations that the hon. Member has made, but I must rule that his submission does not fall within the provisions of the Standing Order, and therefore I cannot submit his application to the House.