Middle East Peace Process (Hansard, 8 July 1997)

§ 6. Mr. Burden
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the middle east peace process. [5731]

§ 11. Mr. Ivan Lewis
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the middle east peace process. [5738]

§ Mr. Fatchett
We are deeply concerned at the continuing stalemate in the middle east peace process and at the deteriorating situation in the occupied territories. We have impressed on all concerned the dangers of the situation as we see them.
We played a major role in producing the Amsterdam European Council statement on the middle east peace process. We are conferring with our partners on the follow up to this statement.

§ Mr. Burden
I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree that one of the most difficult questions facing the peace process is the future of Jerusalem? That is why it is so important that neither side takes any action that pre-empts the negotiations that must eventually take place. Does he share my concern that the Government of Israel seem intent on removing residency rights from many of the 170,000 Palestinian Arabs who live in east 759 Jerusalem, even though many of them were born there? Will he undertake to investigate that, and does he agree that that policy of quiet deportation is contrary to human rights and to the spirit of the Oslo accord?

§ Mr. Fatchett
We certainly condemn any action by Israel or the Palestinians that pre-empts the final status negotiations. The matters to which my hon. Friend refers seem clearly to fall within that category, and therefore we have no hesitation in condemning them.

§ Mr. Ivan Lewis
Will my hon. Friend welcome the fact that, for the first time since March this year. tentative discussions have taken place between the Israeli Government and representatives of the Palestinian authorities, especially the surprising recent meeting between Mr. Sharon, one of Israel's well-known hard liners, and Abu Mazin? In that context, when my hon. Friend meets Mr. Arafat next week will he urge him to take every glimmer of hope that is available to him to ensure that the peace process can be put back on track?

§ Mr. Fatchett
We welcome any opportunity to reopen negotiations and any initiative that is taken. I compliment Ambassador Moratinos, the European Union special envoy, on his work. He has been particularly influential in trying to restart the talks between the Israeli Government and the Palestinians. I also congratulate the Egyptian Government on their role in trying to restart the peace negotiations. They have shown leadership and statesmanship—characteristics and attributes that are often lacking in that process.

§ Mr. Hogg
Does the Minister agree that the single most important step that the Government of Israel could take to promote peace would be to decide not to build new settlements and not to extend existing ones? If he agrees, will he take every opportunity to press that message on the Israeli Government, both collectively and unilaterally? In particular, will he enlist the support of the United States Government in making their position, alongside ours, absolutely plain to the Government of Israel?

§ Mr. Fatchett
I am pleased to tell the right hon. and learned Gentleman that we have already made clear our opposition to the extension of settlements and to new settlements. I visited the Har Homa settlement in May, and I set out clearly the British Government's position, which is based in international law and well known to the Israeli Government. We shall continue to convey that view to the Israelis and to other interested parties.

§ Mr. Soames
Does the Minister agree that, in the wider interests of peace and stability in the middle east, he should make the most vigorous representations to the Iraqi Government about the failure to return Kuwaiti prisoners of war? Will he assure the House that, if he has not already done so, he will take steps to represent our views very strongly on that matter?

§ Mr. Fatchett
I am pleased to tell the hon. Gentleman that we have conveyed that view. During my recent visit to Kuwait, I expressed to the emir this country's concern about the missing Kuwaitis. I gave him a commitment that we will do all we can to assist in ensuring that those missing Kuwaitis get back to their families in Kuwait.

§ Mr. Galloway
Does the Minister accept that the President Arafat who will come here next week is not 760 the President Arafat who came here with such high hopes a couple of years ago and sat in the Strangers Gallery? He is almost a beaten and broken man because of his identification with a peace process that has become a tragedy, if not a farce. It is a tragedy because there is neither peace nor a process.
Although I welcome the Minister's promise to seize on what my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) called a glimmer of hope, I am bound to say that I see no glimmers. The time has come when words of condemnation of Israeli policy in Jerusalem and the occupied territories are no longer enough. International action involving the United States of America, the international community and the United Nations is long overdue.

§ Mr. Fatchett
I can assure my hon. Friend that, when I met President Arafat the other week, he did not look broken and beaten: he was in good spirits and was keen to maintain the peace process and to restart the negotiations. I wished him well and gave him a clear commitment that we will do all we can to assist. My hon. Friend is correct to say that it is important that we get back to the negotiating table, as that is the only and best option available to everyone in the middle east.

§ Mr. Butterfill
Does the Minister agree that, however faltering, the peace process has been progressive, and there has been a steady handover of territory to Palestinian control? That process needs to continue if we are to achieve peace. Does he agree that the present state of unrest in Hebron is holding up that process? When he meets Yasser Arafat next week, will he impress on him the important role that he can play in creating a climate in which the peace process can proceed to completion?

§ Mr. Fatchett
It is clearly important that the process continues apace, otherwise the commitment to the process will diminish. It is obvious that the process must meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people and the security needs of the people of Israel. It must also deliver economically, as one of the issues that must be addressed is the fact that, since Oslo, the living standards of Palestinians have fallen by nearly one third. That is unacceptable, and progress must be made quickly so that everyone has a clear interest in and commitment to the peace process.