(Enfield North) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the
Secretary of State to promote the establishment of an
International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace to support
coexistence projects and civil society programmes; and for
connected purposes.
As the House knows, recent weeks have seen a flurry of
activity on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a UN Security
Council resolution; a major speech by the US Secretary of
State John Kerry; and a further peace conference in Paris
last weekend.
The barriers to a two-state solution are well known. As a
strong friend of Israel, I admit freely, but with great
regret, that these include the expansion of settlements on
the west bank. Settlement building is wrong. It threatens the
viability of a future Palestinian state—the case for which is
unarguable. It does immense damage to Israel’s standing in
the world, and, over time, it will put at risk that which is
most precious about Israel’s character: its Jewish and
democratic character.
However, as Secretary of State Kerry stated clearly, this is
not to say
“that the settlements are the whole or even the primary cause
of this conflict.”
There is also the incitement tolerated, and, in many cases,
perpetrated by the Palestinian Authority. I am talking about
the payment of “salaries” to those convicted of terrorist
offences, and the naming of schools, streets and sports
tournaments after so-called martyrs, thereby glorifying their
violence. Then there is the greatest barrier of all: the
rejectionist, anti-Semitic ideology of Hamas, Hezbollah and
Iran, which denies Israel’s very right to exist, and the
terrorism that inevitably flows from it.
My Bill today is not intended to downplay the importance of
those barriers, although it will help to address some of the
pernicious consequences arising from them. Instead, my Bill
recognises that, as the example of Northern Ireland taught
us, any peace process needs a political dimension, an
economic dimension and a civil society dimension. Coexistence
projects that bring together Israelis and Palestinians to
advance the cause of mutual understanding, reconciliation and
trust represent that civil society dimension. The world has
paid it too little attention, investing only around £37
million a year in people-to-people projects for Israel and
Palestine—that is less than £4 for each Israeli and
Palestinian person each year.
Britain exemplifies this problem. From spending a pitiful
£150,000 on coexistence projects in 2015-16, the Government,
despite repeated warm words to the contrary, appear to have
cut this funding altogether in the current financial year. I
am pleased that the Secretary of State for International
Development seems keen to right that wrong.
The absence of strong constituencies for peace in Israel and
Palestine is one of the results. Polling by the Israeli
Democracy Institute and the Palestinian Centre for Policy and
Survey Research last summer underlined the scale of the
problem. Although 59% of Israelis and 51% of Palestinians
still support a two-state solution, these already slim
majorities are fragile, threatened by fear and distrust
between the two peoples. Thus 89% of Palestinians believe
Israeli Jews are untrustworthy; a feeling that is
reciprocated by 68% of the latter. At the same time, 65% of
Israeli Jews fear Palestinians and 45% of Palestinians fear
Israeli Jews.
We should not place our hopes in the optimism of the young.
After all, this is the generation that has no memory of the
optimism engendered by the Oslo accords, but whose formative
years have instead been marked by suicide bombings, the
second intifada and perpetual conflict between Israel and
Hamas in Gaza. Even if the peace process were in better
health, these would hardly be the most solid foundations on
which to build a lasting peace. However, we should recall
that the seeds for the Good Friday agreement were sown at a
similarly inauspicious moment during the height of the
troubles, when the International Fund for Ireland was
created. Over the past 30 years, it has invested £714 million
in grassroots coexistence work in Northern Ireland. In all,
more than 5,800 projects have been supported since it was
established to promote economic and social advance and to
encourage contact, dialogue and reconciliation between
nationalists and Unionists throughout Ireland. That
investment has helped to provide the popular support that has
helped to sustain the Good Friday agreement over nearly two
decades.
With that example in mind, my Bill requires the Government to
promote the establishment of the proposed international fund
for Israeli-Palestinian peace. This has been designed by the
Alliance for Middle East Peace, a coalition of more than 90
organisations building people-to-people co-operation and
coexistence. The fund aims to leverage and increase public
and private contributions worldwide, funding civil society
projects and joint economic development that promote
coexistence, peace and reconciliation. It is envisaged that
the $200 million-per-year fund—four times the current level
of international support for people-to-people work in Israel
and Palestine—would receive contributions of approximately
25% each from the US, Europe, the rest of the international
community including the Arab world, and the private sector.
The fund is not, I should emphasise, intended to receive
support that otherwise would be provided directly to either
the Palestinian Authority or to Israel.
We know that the coexistence projects in Israel and Palestine
work. After two decades, there is now a significant body of
evidence, based on academic and governmental evaluations,
indicating the impact that coexistence projects can have.
That impact, moreover, has been achieved in the face of
considerable challenges. According to the United States
Agency for International Development, those participating in
people-to-people programmes report higher levels of trust,
higher levels of co-operation, more “conflict resolution
values”, and less aggression and loneliness. Evaluation of
individual programmes underlines that impact.
Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow—MEET—is a truly
inspiring project that brings together young Israelis and
Palestinians to learn about technology and entrepreneurship.
It found a 60% increase in the number of students who value
working with someone from the “other side” after just one
year on the programme. The Parents Circle Families Forum, an
organisation of more than 600 Palestinian and Israeli
families who have lost a family member in the conflict, found
that 70% of all participants had increased trust and empathy
and that 84% were motivated to participate in peacebuilding
activities in their communities.
I would ask, too, whether the Department for International
Development can point to anything in its current funding that
has moved the conflict closer to resolution. If coexistence
work is to be held to a standard that demands that it
demonstrate how it helps solve the conflict, surely other
strategies that have not by themselves moved the ball forward
should be held to the same standard.
Support for a renewed effort to promote coexistence work is
strong and growing. It crosses international boundaries and
political parties. The Quartet’s most recent report
recommended a focus on civil society work for the first time
since its founding. The Vatican, Jewish organisations and
politicians on both left and right in Israel have all raised
their voices in support. On Capitol Hill, two US
Congressmen—Jeff Fortenberry and Joe Crowley—have worked
across party lines, introducing a Bill in support of the
international fund in the best traditions of US global
leadership.
In this House, 56 of my Labour colleagues signed an open
letter to the Secretary of State for International
Development last month endorsing the fund, and I am delighted
today to have the support of Members from the Conservative
and Liberal Democrat parties. I am particularly pleased that
the right hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Sir Eric
Pickles), chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel, is
listed as one of the supporters of the Bill.
The late Shimon Peres, one of Israel’s founding fathers and
most indefatigable peacemakers, once said:
“The way to make peace is not through governments. It is
through people.”
He knew that, even in the most challenging of times, we must
never give up on the search for peace. By supporting my Bill,
the House can underline its support for that search.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That , , Mrs , , , , , Sir , , , and Mr present the Bill.
accordingly presented the
Bill.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on 24
March and to be printed (Bill 126).
