As warfare raged in Gaza over the last 18 months, and now extending to the whole region, a number of MPs, have continued to focus at what has been going on in the other larger occupied Palestinian territory on the West Bank of the River Jordan.
Occupied by Israel since the June 1967 Six-Day War, it remains the territory that would form the basis of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. This ‘two-state solution’ has been the goal of European and US policy for decades in our attempts to bring a lasting peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
When I was the minister responsible for our policy in the West Bank I had the most frustrating dealings with the Israeli authorities over a whole series of issues: illegal Israeli settlements; the destruction of schools and infrastructure funded by UK taxpayers; Israeli settler violence against Palestinians; detention of Palestinian children; martial law and restrictions on Palestinian movement; collective punishments …and plenty more. On one occasion, when I raised these issues with the Israeli Deputy-Prime Minister and Chief Negotiator, he denounced me and stormed out of our meeting.
Of course, with justification, Israelis respond that the restrictions placed on the Palestinian population are a direct consequence of Palestinian terrorism to which Israel has been subjected.
The current government of Israel is determined to prevent the possibility of a Palestinian state in the West Bank. A glance at the map of expanding illegal Israeli settlement clearly demonstrates that the contiguous and economically viable territory available to a Palestinian state is fast diminishing. Last week I asked the Government how long remains, before a Palestinian State becomes a geographic impossibility.
This was the Minister’s response
“I thank the right hon. Member and my predecessor for that important question. We have pointed to a whole range of areas of concern in relation to the viability of a Palestinian state. One that has not received mention so far in our exchanges, but which is vital, is the E1 development. The British Government are deeply concerned by the speed with which the Israeli Government are proceeding with a project that we completely oppose. It is clearly designed to try to split two parts of a contiguous Palestinian territory. We oppose it, and we will continue to do so.”
Our opposition, however, won’t count for a bean. The E1 project is racing ahead and is part of a deliberate strategy to remove the possibility of a Palestinian State altogether. Indeed, there is now an expectation by many informed commentators, that Israel will take advantage of US protection in the UN Security Council, to veto any hostile resolutions, cemented by their allied military action in Iran, and proceed to full annexation of the West Bank.
Given the extent of the Trump administration’s commitment and support for Netanyahu’s government in Israel, I am pessimistic about the prospect of preventing annexation.
If the possibility of two-state settlement is off the table, we cannot go on flogging a dead horse. We need to start planning for what will be plan B, and the policy we will need to pursue in order to secure it.
If the Palestinians are to be denied their own state, then it is essential that they have equal civil rights within Israel.
Sir Desmond Swayne TD
