Hansard

I am pleased that members of the Parliament have gathered to hold this important debate. I thank Sandra White for bringing the motion to our chamber and for her analysis of the developments leading to today.

I feel strongly about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, like many others in the chamber and far beyond, and I am grateful for the chance to speak. I welcome the people in the public gallery and recognise the work that they do, often on a voluntary basis, to take forward a just solution.

As members may be aware, in 2012 John Finnie and I joined a fact-finding mission to Gaza on a delegation from the Council for European Palestinian Relations. That was just after the Israeli-named operation pillar of defence. The level of destruction was shocking, but equally striking was the resilience and spirit of the people whom John Finnie and I encountered. Many of the bombings—then and in more recent attacks, with difficulties faced by the people there—were gratuitous. I have never forgotten the bombing of the goals and the spectator facilities at the Al Yarmouk community football stadium, which was lauded by the Israeli pilot in callous humour on the radio on his return to Israel.

After 20 years of a failed peace process, it is time for co-operation and an end to the violence. As a Labour member and co-convener, along with others in the chamber, of the cross-party group on Palestine, I am proud that Ed Miliband committed himself to recognition of the state of Palestine should he be elected in May. That is a powerful symbolic moment and it is right that the UK should join others in the vanguard of recognising the two independent states. Supporting co-convener Sandra White’s motion is more than just symbolism, however; international recognition of Palestine could catalyse real-life impacts for some of the most victimised people in the world.

As we know, the blockade has left people in Gaza without the means to run any enterprise. The limit on movement extends beyond people to include their goods, which means that trade is virtually suffocated and that people cannot be self-reliant. However, the recent accession of Palestine to membership of the International Criminal Court must be sure to facilitate the protection of Palestinian rights against war crimes.

I was recently contacted by the Palestinian Farmers Union, which empowers Palestinian farmers and protects their rights. Palestine’s new ICC membership may assist with challenging the illegal seizure of Palestinian farmers’ land in the West Bank and Gaza.

In 2011, the economy ministry and the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem compiled a report that stated that there is a huge discrepancy between land allocation for Israeli and Palestinian farmers in the West Bank and east Jerusalem area. Some 620,000 Israeli settlers cultivated 64,000 dunams, whereas 4 million Palestinians cultivated just 100,000 dunams. A dunam is traditionally the amount of land that could be ploughed by a team of oxen in a day. The Palestinian Farmers Union hopes that the ICC will expose the situation and deliver justice to those dispossessed of their land. It would also help those threatened by the Israeli military when they try to farm their land near Israeli settlements.

Of course, human rights violations by one party do not justify violations by its opponents, and the cycle of violence has continued for far too long. The visit to Gaza in November 2012 enabled me to witness the stark reality of Israel’s disproportionate military actions, and many MSP colleagues have also had the chance to bear witness.

Following Netanyahu’s re-election, I am concerned that the Israeli Government will only become increasingly intransigent. Based on his comments, his re-election seems to be a retrograde step for the whole region. Support for the motion and calling for international recognition of the Palestinian state will send a powerful message to the Government of Israel and to the world that a two-state solution is the only solution.