§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. MacKay.]
2.33 pm§ Mr. John Marshall (Hendon, South)Everyone who knows anything about the middle east expects peace to come through a series of building blocks. The first was Camp David; the second was the widely acclaimed Oslo accords; and the third was the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. The tragedy is that a small unrepresentative group of Muslim fundamentalists is seeking to derail the peace process. Their hearts are so full of hatred that they cannot tolerate a programme of peaceful co-existence between neighbours in the middle east. They believe that they can bomb their way into heaven, and into derailing the peace process in the middle east. I hope, as I am sure the whole House does, that they will fail, as I suspect they will, on both counts.
The objectives of the various parties to the peace process are, of course, different. Israel has always craved recognition by her neighbours—neighbours who sought to suffocate her at birth and to snuff out her existence both in 1967 and in 1973, and who until recently have always denied her right to exist.
Israel has craved peace because so many of her citizens have been affected by the wars that she has had to fight to secure her independence, and because between those wars she has been under constant attack from her neighbours. For example, the people in the north would suffer mortar attacks from the Lebanon. Israel sought peace as a means of giving her people security because she had suffered infiltration by guerrillas, and mortars had been thrust down on her people from the Golan. Hezbollah guerrillas used to infiltrate from the Lebanon, and still seek to do so.
Israel also hoped that as part of the peace process, her people would be able to discover information about Israelis missing in action since the 1980s. For example, Zachary Baumel went missing in 1982, and Ron Arad was captured in 1986. Several times I have met Zachary Baumel's parents, who are still desperate to discover what happened to their son nearly 15 years ago.
Many hon. Members have met the mother, brothers and daughter of Ron Arad. In 1986, when he was captured, his daughter was very young. She is now much older, yet during all that time she has not known what happened to her father. What sort of people will prevent a father from knowing his daughter over a period of nearly 10 years, much longer than the duration of the last war?
We must remember that it was Israel that kick-started the release of middle east hostages in the early 1990s. Israel released a flood of prisoners, thereby securing the release of Terry Waite and John McCarthy, in the hope of receiving back her own missing people. But that has not happened.
Of course we must recognise that the objectives of Israel's neighbours were different from hers. The Jordanians sought from peace economic advantage, increased investment and joint infrastructure projects. They also wanted to use Israel's knowledge of tourism to benefit their own tourist industry. The Palestinians sought an improvement in their living standards as well as the ability to rule themselves.
1360 The history of the middle east demonstrates that our peacemakers are always as vulnerable to the assassin's bullet as the general is to hostile fire. King Abdullah, Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin all gave up their lives prematurely in the hope that their people would live in peace one with another. King Hussein has shown that he is luckier than a cat, because he has survived 11 assassination attempts.
Kamikaze guerrillas have now killed scores of Israelis in the hope of derailing the peace process by altering public opinion in Israel. That is why the conference was held at Sharm-el-Sheikh earlier this year. No more suitable place could have been found for such a conference, because it is in territory that Israel returned to Egypt as part of the peace process.
When we consider what happened at the conference we must congratulate the Prime Minister on attending it, and on the positive approach that he adopted. Of course, we must also condemn those who did not go to the conference. We should condemn Syria, in particular, for refusing to go to the conference. Syria has provided hospitality for many of those who reject peace in the middle east. Syria has helped many of those seeking to derail the peace process in the middle east. Syria invaded the Lebanon and keeps troops there, and it allows Hezbollah guerillas in the Lebanon to become a force that is anxious to derail peace and to fight the state of Israel.
Syria did not go to that conference because it is not interested in defeating terrorism; Syria is interested in sponsoring terrorism. How can Syria ever expect the Israelis to return the Golan heights when it refused to attend a conference designed to defeat terrorism? Of course every Israeli knows that, until 1967, the Golan was used for hostile action against Israel. Since 1967, it has been used for purely peaceful purposes.
Apart from condemning Syria for not attending the conference, we must condemn Iran and Libya, which are the paymasters of international terrorism. We must recognise the dangers that Iran presents to peace not only in the middle east but to peace in the world because, within the next decade, it is very likely that Iran will become a nuclear power. The world must squeeze Iran now so that there might yet be a change of Government in that unhappy country.
We must congratulate our Prime Minister because only he and the Prime Minister of Israel were willing to condemn Iran's reaction to the bombs in Israel and Iran's sponsorship of international terrorism. Let any apologists for the Iranian regime remember that Iran praised the bombings after they had taken place. Indeed, I have been told that the Federal Republic of Germany has put out an arrest warrant for an Iranian Minister. No one should enter into partnership with Iran, and people should follow our Government's lead in condemning the Iranian regime.
I am surprised that the President of France did not seek to condemn Iran; let us remember that Iranians went to Paris to kill Mr. Bakhtiar, a former Prime Minister of Iran.
We should listen to what victims of terrorism are saying. We should also listen to friendly Governments in the middle east which give advice to this country. We should listen to Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Egypt. They say that Britain should not become a haven for Muslim fundamentalists seeking to wage war on friendly countries in the middle east.
1361 We should not give asylum to political activists from the middle east who seek to abuse our hospitality by stirring up trouble there and by destroying our friendship and trade with those friendly nations. If we were to ask the President of Egypt and the Governments of Tunisia and of Saudi Arabia what they thought of the Asylum and Immigration Bill, we would quickly receive three assents to it.
Individuals sometimes come to this country to stir up trouble and to fight a war of Muslim fundamentalism. They are the blood brothers of those who went on the buses in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
We must also make certain that organisations in Britain do not fund terrorism in the middle east. We all know how people of the Irish diaspora in North America are used to fund terrorism in the United Kingdom. We must not allow individuals from the Palestinian diaspora and their sympathisers to fund terrorism in the middle east. It would be a great tragedy if they were to do so, and we shall be held partially responsible for it.
We must also ensure that we do not allow individuals to stir up a campaign of hatred on our university campuses, which can only influence the world outside the campuses.
I see that the National Union of Students has asked that action be taken on Hizb-ut-Tahrir. The NUS president, Mr. Jim Murphy, said at conference last week that the union should not be soft on HUT. He went on to say that HUT was filth and filth belongs in the bin.
I apologise for straying slightly beyond the Foreign Office's remit by saying that, as everyone condemns HUT, there is some surprise that there has so far been no successful prosecution of that organisation in the United Kingdom. Universities such as that at Birmingham have banned HUT from their campus, but there has so far been no prosecution. It is wrong for any organisation to preach religious or racial hatred on our university campuses. Members of such organisations are the blood brothers of the bus bombers of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
It is important that our country takes action against such individuals, but it is equally important that Mr. Arafat is seen to arrest and prosecute. So far, he has been strong on arrests but not quite so strong on prosecutions. It is important that the Palestinian national covenant is amended within the time scale promised by Mr. Arafat. Were he to fail to do so, that of itself would be a danger to the peace process.
We in this country must, as a fellow democracy, show understanding of the reaction of the Israeli Government to assaults on their people and their democratic process. The tragedy is that those who are fighting the peace process in the middle east all come not from democracies but from one-party dictatorships. We must understand that when any democracy sees its people attacked, as Israel has done, it has to react to ensure that peace and democracy prevail and that its people are not bombed and bullied into submission.
The peace process in the middle east will survive only if the aspirations of all are met. We have witnessed the attempts to destroy peace by destroying security for Israelis, but we need more than just security—we need prosperity. This is where the western world can move in with joint ventures and where the Arab world can say that it recognises that Israelis have experience in tourism, agriculture and industry which the Arab world sometimes 1362 lacks. I look forward to the day when we see joint ventures in Jordan, Egypt and other countries between Israelis, western entrepreneurs and the local countries.
I hope that everyone in the middle east will remember that when we are trying to bring the Jewish people of Israel and our Muslim brothers together, we might quote from the New Testament and say:
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
§ Mr. Greville Janner (Leicester, West)I thank the hon. Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) for securing the debate and associate myself with everything that he said. I also thank him for being a great personal friend and pair and a doughty friend of Israel and of the Jewish people. I salute the work that he has done and is doing.
I also pay my respects to the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the right hon. Member for Richmond and Barnes (Mr. Hanley) who, unlike his predecessor, has a clear vision of peace in the middle east and an understanding of the problems of a democratic Israel. In response to my outcry at the proposed closure of the British Council operation in Jerusalem, he stopped that closure. I greatly appreciate that, as do the many people who use it.
I shall deal with one further aspect of the peace process to which the hon. Member for Hendon, South has drawn attention. As chairman of the Maimonides Foundation—a Jewish organisation that seeks to foster good relations between Jews and Muslims—I have worked closely with the Muslim community. I pay special tribute to those in that community who have cried out against the attacks to which the hon. Gentleman referred. I pay tribute to Saba Risaluddin, the head of the Calamus Foundation, who said:
Terrorism is completely alien to the ethos of Islam, as it is to the ethos of all the world's great faiths.I pay respectful tribute to Ayatollah Rouhani, Imam of the Paris mosque and spiritual leader of the Shi'ite community in Europe, who called onall Islamic organisations and personalities to issue a joint fatwa condemning loud and clear all terrorist actions carried out by terrorist groups under the name of Islam aimed at the peace process in the Middle East".I thank my dear friend and respected ally Sheikh Dr. Zaki Badawi, principal of the Muslim college in London, who wrote to The Times to attackthose who glory in acts of violence and who equate peace with weakness. In this sad and crucial time, heroism should be accorded only to the peacemakers.We have heroism in the middle east. We have the heroism of the Israelis in the face of attacks launched by people using pawns—those who believe that they will go to paradise by that path—but who would not take those risks themselves. We have the heroism of Shimon Peres and his people. He is coming up for election and we should think very carefully before we attack, in any way, the Israelis' efforts to damp down terrorism or the steps they have found it necessary to take in face of the ghastly atrocities that their people have faced. They have an election process, which others do not.There is a certain heroism also on the other side and in Chairman Arafat, who is himself under constant attack. I hope that he will rise to what could be a great occasion for peace.
1363 This country should have no place for the supportive mechanisms of terrorism in any other land, whether in the middle east or elsewhere. We should hunt down the supporters and helpers of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Britain. We should ensure that money collected in this country for charitable purposes is used in the middle east for charitable purposes and not to support Hamas, Islamic Jihad or other terrorist bodies. We could then at least know that in our small role in a distant land we have done what we can to promote a peace that we all need so badly.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Jeremy Hanley)I am most grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) for the opportunity to address the issues surrounding the middle east peace process. I wish to thank him and the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner), who are at the forefront of all those in the House of Commons who care deeply about the peace process. They are the most genuine and regular speakers on the subject. Both of them are friends and I listen to, take advice from and discuss the issues with them.
I am saddened that there are no Front Benchers from the Labour or Liberal Democrat parties. That is regrettable, but the weight of opinion of my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South and my hon. and learned Friend—if I may so call him—the Member for Leicester, West has made up for that, given the importance of this debate.
The peace process is an issue of great concern to the Government and, I am sure, to all right hon. and hon. Members. I know that we are all deeply shocked and saddened by the recent dreadful terrorist outrages in Jerusalem, Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary have expressed the Government's deep outrage and revulsion at the attacks and I am sure that all hon. Members join me in those sentiments. It has been deeply painful for all of us to see the threat to peace from those appalling actions, and we must not give the bombers the victory that they seek. Peace is their enemy and we must remained determined to achieve peace.
In these difficult days, the United Kingdom has made clear its wholehearted support for the struggle against terrorism and the continuation of the peace process. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister attended the summit chaired by Egypt and the United States at Sharm el-Sheikh on 13 March, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South referred. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear the United Kingdom's support for peace through negotiation, coupled with our implacable opposition to terrorism. Officials are today taking part in a follow-up meeting to the Sharm el-Sheikh summit which we hope will lead to agreement on practical measures that the international community can take together to fight the terrorists. The Government will continue to support the process begun at Sharm el-Sheikh. Now, more than ever, the international community must unite behind the peacemakers.
The United Kingdom has been active diplomatically since the terrorist attacks to bolster the fight against terrorism and to boost support for the peace process.
1364 We have spoken to Israel's neighbours about the vocal presence in their midst of violent opponents to the peace process. We have urged other countries of the middle east to consider what more they might do to fight terrorism, to undermine support for it and for those who fund it and more actively support the peace process. The presence of many Arab countries at Sharm el-Sheikh suggests that our representations, coupled with those of others, may have had some effect.
For those countries that continue to oppose the peace process, such as Iran and Libya, we have only one message. Their policy is unacceptable. The chargé d'affaires of the Iranian embassy in London was told that when he called into the Foreign Office after the bombings. We were outraged by Iran's initial reaction and little impressed by its subsequent equivocations. If Iran wishes to be treated with respect, it must recognise the force of that message and act accordingly. With our European partners, we will continue to press that home through the European Union's critical dialogue with Iran. We believe that the Iranian Government and their surrogates continue to promote international terrorism and that they have been responsible for many attacks on Iranian dissidents in Europe since 1989. As my hon. Friend said, the recent decision by the German federal prosecutor to indict the chief of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence Services, Ali Fallahian, adds weight to that claim.
In practical terms, the United Kingdom is doing much to help both the Israelis and the Palestinians fight the terrorists. Two City of London police experts are visiting Israel to offer advice on the surveillance and other techniques that help to form the ring of steel around the City of London. Although I cannot go into details today, there are other forms of co-operation with Israel in sharing information on the terrorist threat.
With the Palestinians, we are looking urgently at what further assistance we can give the Palestinian police in addition to the substantial assistance that we have given them in training and logistics to help them to maintain order and security in Gaza and the west bank. I was also pleased to visit Gaza not long ago and to see the gift of radios that has so helped the Palestinian police with security and the election process.
I am pleased too that the European Union is urgently working up a programme of assistance in counterterrorism to the Palestinian police. We shall ensure that that assistance is promptly given and co-ordinated in full with the other assistance that the Palestinian authority is receiving.
The United Kingdom fully understands the pressing need for Israel to re-establish security for its citizens. They deserve that. We understand the need for the tough measures that have been taken. At the same time, we also recognise—this is a point of agreement between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian authority and both made it firmly to me during my recent visit to the region in January—that stability in Gaza and the west bank depends on employment and prosperity for the Palestinian people. We recognise the extremely difficult task facing the Israeli Government in balancing their security needs with the needs of the Palestinian people. I know that they are tackling the issue with the maximum energy and determination. We welcome the easing of the closures that has already taken place and hope that the Israeli Government will be able to relax measures further, but only where compatible with their security needs.
1365 I met the Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, when he came to London and was impressed with his determination to secure the future for his people. I was also impressed with the way he felt that prosperity for the Palestinian people would aid security for the region as a whole and further the peace process. I believe that all hon. Members wish the Israeli Government well in achieving those aims.
My hon. Friend also mentioned Ron Arad and the other brave people who are missing in action. I raised that issue with Yasser Arafat directly and felt that he was most positive in his responses. We should and could make further progress, although it is difficult since we are largely dealing with the Iranians and others on the matter. I hope that progress can be made, not just because of those individuals and their families, but because I cannot think of any issue that would be a greater confidence-booster than if we were to find a solution to this long-standing problem which is at root, as my hon. Friend said so movingly, a humanitarian, family matter.
These are difficult days for Israel and the Palestinians. Despite the gloom of current circumstances, we must not forget that there is still a peace process. We must remember how much has been achieved. There are agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which detail their mutual recognition and a process by which they can accommodate their differing interests. A Palestinian Authority has been established. As I mentioned earlier, there have been successful democratic elections for the new Palestinian Council and its president. We applaud these achievements and those who made them happen.
The vast majority of Palestinians and Israelis still crave peace and want the peace process to work. The terrorists cannot be allowed to dictate the fate of everyone else. They cannot be allowed to consign their neighbours to endless and pointless violence.
I shall say a few words about the Arab boycott, which is felt strongly in the United Kingdom and beyond. Following the first meeting of the Israel-Britain chamber of commerce, Israel's Minister for Trade, Micha Harish, told my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade that he was convinced that the boycott was no longer regarded by British business men as an obstacle to trading with Israel. Indeed, the rocketing trade figures over the past few years bear out that belief.
Both the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are taking a robust line, ensuring that companies are left in no doubt over our 1366 disapproval of the boycott. We are recommending, where possible, the use of an EU certificate rather than a certificate issued by the Arab-British chamber of commerce. The DTI, however, has an obligation to inform exporters of the facts. It would be useless to recommend the use of an EU certificate to a country which did not accept it, such as Syria.
The Arab boycott is now on its knees. Its final death throes are ever closer. It is unlikely, however, that the Arab League will end it formally before there is a comprehensive peace between Israel and all her Arab neighbours, but Egypt and Jordan have formally abandoned the boycott, the Gulf Co-operation Council no longer applies the secondary and tertiary aspects of it, and it is not applied, in practice, by Tunisia and Morocco. Only a few hard-line Arab countries insist on applying it. But while the Arab boycott office in Damascus is still open, we shall work hard to ensure that progress in the peace process brings with it a complete end to a useless, senseless and counterproductive boycott.
We look forward, of course, to the final settlement of the Arab-Israel dispute. The foundation of the settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, in the form of the declaration of principles and the interim agreement, already exists. We must all keep this goal in sight, for with it comes the prospect of a comprehensive middle east peace. Such a peace would bring immense prosperity to the entire region.
In that context, the United Kingdom welcomed the negotiations between Syria and Israel, which began at the Wye Plantation at the end of last year. The talks are currently suspended, but we hope that they will be resumed as soon as possible. It is vital that this opportunity for a comprehensive peace is not lost. We welcome the flexibility that both sides have shown to their approach to these talks and hope that they will continue to exhibit so constructive an attitude if and when the talks resume.
Our support is for those brave men and women, Palestinian as well as Israeli, who are building peace in the middle east. Nothing should detract from that goal. We shall do all that we can to help prevent the terrorists from destroying their and our dream of a comprehensive and lasting peace.
§ Question put and agreed to
§ Adjourned accordingly at three minutes past Three o'clock.