Once again this has resulted in conflict and once again the world wrings it’s hands and does very little except become entrenched in one camp or the other. This is manifested in statements such as “ The Israelis have a right to defend themselves against rocket attacks from within Gaza” and the counter statement of “ The Israelis must end the blockade of Gaza” and there appears to be no common ground between either of those statements and they are both right when viewed in isolation.

The Israelis very cleverly will not speak about anything other than: –

1. Rocket attacks
2. Tunnels

Accepting no responsibility for turning Gaza into a large concentration camp and when pressed cite the reasoning for this stance as the Holocaust, which did happen and was horrendously inhuman. Genocide is inhuman and that includes all groups who suffer it and in whatever numbers. Any decent human being would agree with that statement I am sure. The Israelis must recognise the consequences of their actions.

The Huffington Post has exacerbated this situation just by defining their current on line discussion as:-

Pro – Israeli or Pro – Palestinian

The whole tone of those words is unhelpful and inciting. However they are not alone and it allows both sides to determine the righteousness of their cause.

The historic significance of the UK in creating this problem is well known and there is no point in reminding everyone of the previous duplicity of the British government to both Israelis and Palestinians after the Second World War. Unfortunately the UK government is no position to right this wrong at this late stage, lacking the power or credibility internationally to play any effective role in a resolution. It also begs the question who ever appointed Blair to preside over the Middle East peace initiative when I suggest that he was one of the biggest players to have a hand in causing these problems. Yet he continues to expound the righteousness of his actions years after the immense and continuing loss of life in the region. Unbelievable!

But let us explore the current situation.

Any sovereign nation may fight a “Just War” and the common principles of the justice of war are universally known as “Jus ad Bellum” and are held to be:-

1. Having just cause.
2. Being declared by a proper authority
3. Possessing the right intention.
4. Having a reasonable chance of success.
5. The end being proportional to the means.

By adhering to these principles, a sovereign nation’s right to wage a “Just War” will always be upheld. Where the Israelis compromise this right is by prosecuting a “Just War” in an Unjust way. Unlimited and Absolute war is counter-productive to the end result sought in a “Just War” and should moral conditions not be present this will and is resulting as we have seen historically in this conflict, an endless war of retribution and revenge over generations.

Clearly the 2 State solution is the only long-term resolution to this intractable problem, which will require the Israelis to take a leap of faith in not using their own people to secure and buffer their borders through the use of settlements on the West Bank or enclosing a whole region such as Gaza in a virtual prison, from where the inhabitants are so helpless that they are willing to die to achieve any dignified Human Rights at all. If the Israelis continue to create hopelessness in the minds of the Palestinians in Gaza, then they cannot complain if they are attacked. There is no other course of action for the imprisoned people and the continuous war will create more and more warriors to the cause of Palestinian freedom not just in Gaza.

This then leads me onto the turn of events at home in UK where Baroness Warsi has resigned from the cabinet over the “indefensible position of the Government over Gaza”. Irrespective of her reasons, which I believe are admirable, she has now realised the paucity of power that people in this country from a BME heritage have, even at the level of government, which she currently enjoys. She was patronised into believing that she was accepted into the inner coterie of the Private school, Oxbridge educated elite who dominate all aspects of our society today and a dawn of realisation that, “Yes! I really am brown, a woman from the working class and Muslim and that no matter how bright, gifted and humane I am, in reality the doors of power are closed to me.”

That is the reality of being a BME person in UK today. This is clearly evidenced in all the statistics, which are available in both the Public Services and Business today.

If she was really principled “crossbenching” is the only political solution for her, because it is clear that the Tory party will never really take BME people to it’s heart.

The reality of politics today is the power of business to drive government policy, hence the government stated policy on Gaza from our Prime Minister’s own mouth is “The right of the Israelis to defend themselves against rocket attacks” whilst behind the scenes the lucrative business deals with the Israeli government and companies proliferate and more and more donors from a UK Pro Israeli business lobby throw money at the Tories to achieve their ends. Once again, of course the Lib Dems throw their “considerable” political weight behind the Palestinian cause once they believe the opportunity is right, thus losing all credibility in the eyes of the public and showing themselves once again to be the most disingenuous politicians of the whole phalanx of our representatives in “The Mother of all Parliaments” by their excruciating timing and lack of guts to have done so before.

The only solution to not just the Israeli v Palestinian problem but also the rest of the Middle East is Secular and Humanist. Therefore all negotiations will have the most chance of success if:-

1. There is no reference to religion or faith.
2. There is no reference to history as it cannot be changed.
3. Accept the autonomous State solution.

Build consensus around the following principles:-

1. Safety and Security- applying this principle to all aspects of the negotiations means asking in response to any question. “How can we do this and provide safety and security for all our people?
2. Human Rights- “How can we provide these to all our people in these circumstances?
3. Autonomy- How can we provide autonomous government, trade and international representation to all people willing to negotiate a solution?

Lastly, be strong enough as an international community to punish those who transgress the rule of international law through all lawful means.