Gaza

The relentless bombardment of Gaza must stop, as must random rocket attacks on Israeli people. Israel has no right to make the whole Palestinian people, least of all children, culpable for the actions of Hamas and those who arm it. Hamas has no licence to act in ways that it knows will bring suffering and death to innocent people - not least to the afflicted, powerless people that it claims to represent. There must be an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire to ensure that there is no further loss of life in and around Gaza. International peacekeepers and experts should be deployed in key positions and arms exports should cease. There should be credible and independent investigations into any violations of international humanitarian law.
The Israeli government and those who support it must realise that the problems of the Middle East cannot be solved by armed and disproportionate force and that the Palestinian people have rights to homeland, peace and prosperity. Hamas and its backers must realise that the welfare and interests of the Palestinian people are undermined by acts of violence and vengeance, and that Israel is an established fact. The world must realise and base its actions upon the strength of the convictions of the two peoples about their rights to live in the same area of land.
If Israel’s aim is to destroy Hamas (as if something worse would not spring up in its place) then it must rapidly reconsider. If eradication is not its aim, the attack upon Gaza is senseless as well as barbaric. If the objective of Hamas is to destroy Israel (as if the roles would not then be reversed) it too must reassess and relate to reality. If not, the siting of rocket launchers in populated and vulnerable areas is also senseless as well as abusive and dishonourable. A cycle of merciless violence, fuelled by hatred, loathing and disregard for individual life, will be victory for no-one and defeat for humanity.
Yet there are people of pragmatism - and indeed good will - in both causes. By means that cannot yet be set out in full, their hands must be strengthened and those of the ideologues diminished. Some leaders who show insight in calmer times should promote their own level-headed counsel in ending this conflict. For example: "Israel will never turn armed might into strategic security. If need be it could win a war against all its enemies combined. But if it wants peace it must face the decision it has avoided for forty years: withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories. Military victories and land grabs are futile. Security will only come with political resolution." So reflected Ehud Olmert last September.
For ill or for good, and certainly forever, the destinies of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples are bound together, obliging them to live side by side. In the interests of ordinary people, those who command or govern must come to the conclusion, however reluctantly, that this is to be constructive rather than cursed, developmental rather than desolate and act accordingly. Through continued diplomatic pressure from the United Nations, the United States (now, we cannot wait for the new leadership), through the EU with a serious mandate, through our own Government and through the actions of other nation states - and thousands of organisations within them - the world must put its weight behind a massive effort to bring an end to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and work with unprecedented commitment to achieve a just and lasting political resolution in the Middle East.