Liberal Democrat Councillor condemns violence in the Middle East

Local Liberal Democrat Councillor, Karimeh Foster, has written to the Foreign Secretary condemning the violence in the Middle East and calling for greater action on the part of this country. Cllr. Foster said, " I wrote this letter before the violence in Lebanon erupted, but it is even more important now that the UK government calls for an immediate cease fire. Hundreds of civilians are being killed because the Israeli government has over-reacted. The Israelis have asked people from Southern Lebanon to leave, but then they bomb and fire at them as they leave, destroy the roads and bridges so they cannot leave and have attacked 3 hospitals so that that even the injured are not safe. Many civilians lie dead under the collapsed apartment blocks"

Her letter is shown below:

To: Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs

I am asking you to use whatever influence you may have to improve the situation in Palestine and urge the British government take more robust action.

It seems to me that at the moment the Western Powers are allowing Israel to set the agenda and doing little to encourage a dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis.

The cycle of violence continues, but over the last year there have been very few attacks on Israeli civilians. The Israelis still continue to attack civilians and the recent tragic death of the family on the beach in Gaza illustrates this.

The Israeli reaction to the capture of their soldier is out of all proportion. They are crippling the economy of Gaza and their reaction strikes of "collective punishment", which I believe is outlawed by the Geneva Convention.

Israel seems to want a settlement on its own terms, with it drawing the boundary unilaterally. Hamas was elected democratically and recently accepted a de facto two state solution. We should be therefore be encouraging them as they move towards a peaceful settlement, but all we do is back the Israeli demands and impose sanctions because the population have elected an government we do not like. When Arabs embrace democracy they are punished for it.

Having talked to people who have come back from Gaza and the West Bank they tell me that the civilian population are suffering terribly. It is like living in a big prison camp. They say they are "living in hell". If we do nothing to improve their plight we will produce the breeding ground for more extremists. This situation is like a cancer that is infecting our relationship with the people throughout the world, particularly, but not exclusively with the Muslim World. Arab Christians are now suffering because they are seen as being "western" and therefore assumed to support the "Christian" West.

The Arab World sees the hypocrisy of the reaction of western governments. Iraq and Iran are attacked for breaking UN regulations and in one case we got war and in the other sanctions are threatened, yet Israel continues to break UN resolutions and nothing is done. We will only gain credibility in the Middle East if we treat both sides equally. When Israel attacks the civil structures in Palestine it is accepted at "self defence", but any attack on Israel even if it is against the military is seen as "terrorist".

We know from our colonial past that we have had to sit down and talk with people who at one time we called "terrorists" in order to achieve a peaceful solution. If we allow the current situation to continue the problem will only get worse. As long as the Israeli government see the West as being supportive or acquiescent to their actions and tactics they will not negotiate.

I urge you to use your influence to change our government's attitude and use our so called "special relationship" to encourage the USA government to take a more balance view of the situation. If we want peace in the Middle East we will only achieve it through a fair resolution of this conflict. If we do not the sense of injustice it creates will only provide the fertiliser for the growth of more extremist groups throughout the world.