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I share the concerns of people across the country about the escalating violence in the Middle East and I very much welcomed the comments made by Kim Howells MP, a Minister of State within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Rt Hon Jack Straw MP. Dr Howells and Mr Straw have both stated that they feel the Israeli response was not proportionate.

I have signed two Early Day Motions in connection with the conflict. The full text of these motions can be read below:

That this House expresses grave concern about the escalating crisis in the Middle East that has now spread to Lebanon; notes that Israel's disproportionate military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, including an air and sea blockade of Lebanon, attacks on the airport in Beirut on 13th July and the killing of at least 35 Lebanese civilians within the first 24 hours, risk provoking further regional conflict by seriously jeopardising the fragile political landscape in Lebanon; condemns Hizballah's rocket attacks on Israel and the abduction of Israeli soldiers; urges the British Government to call for an immediate cessation of violence from all parties and to condemn the killing of all civilians on all sides; and calls on all sides to respect the other's sovereignty and international law and to release all prisoners held illegally without trial as a means to end the current crisis.

That this House expresses grave concern about the escalating crisis in the Middle East; condemns the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers which triggered the current crisis both in Lebanon and Gaza; respects Israel's legitimate right of self defence, but calls on Israel to cease its disproportionate military response which amounts to the collective punishment of civilians, in clear breach of international law; calls on both sides to end attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including rocket attacks on Israeli targets; notes that a negotiated settlement is the only route to a lasting peace in the Middle East; recognises that the EU, with its significant economic influence in the region, should play a stronger role in the international response to this crisis; and urges the Quartet to show leadership by taking the sustained and concerted action necessary to bring the current crisis under control and to bring about the conditions necessary for the resumption of negotiations.

Condoleeza Rice, the American Secretary of State has now finally called for a peaceful settlement in the region. In response to this announcement, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman commented, “Of course we want the violence to stop and stop immediately but we recognise the only realistic way of achieving a ceasefire is to address the underlying reasons why the violence has broken out. That has been our approach ever since the conflict broke out. All the way through we have wanted both sides to stop.”

Nevertheless I remain concerned about the way in which the Government has responded to this situation and have written to the Foreign Secretary. I did try to ask the Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP a question in the debate following her recent emergency statement. However there were more than 35 Members who wished to speak during the course of a ninety-minute debate. Unfortunately therefore only a fraction of MPs who wished to express their concerns were called.

I have also signed the statement outlined below, which was published in The Guardian on Wednesday 26^th July:

As Members of the United Kingdom Parliament we condemn both the Hizbollah rocket attacks which have killed 17 civilians in Israel, and the disproportionate Israeli military strikes which in the last few weeks have killed over 370 civilians and displaced over 500,000 in Lebanon, and killed over 100 in Gaza .

Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority all have the right to defend their lawful territories and to protect their peoples from attack.

Rocket attacks by militias on Israeli towns do not protect the people of Palestine or Lebanon. Likewise the people of Israel are not protected by military might which targets homes, bridges and roads in Lebanon, cuts electricity and water supplies to the majority of homes in Gaza, including refugee camps, and which has done far more damage to Lebanon’s democratically elected government than it has to Hizbollah. Such actions are unacceptable, immoral and illegal.

As a High Contracting Party to the 4^th Geneva Convention, the UK Government has a particular responsibility to uphold and ensure universal respect for international humanitarian law. We also call on the entire international community to press for an immediate ceasefire by all parties; to help secure the release of prisoners held unlawfully whether by Israel, Hizbollah or by Palestinian militias; and to take even handed steps to secure the implementation all UN Security Council Resolutions concerning the Middle East, including the realization of a viable Palestinian state alongside an Israel secure in its lawful borders.

I also wrote an article on the issue, which was also published in The Guardian on 29^th July and I have included the full text below:

As I speak to my constituents in Tooting and people elsewhere in London, of all faiths, races and backgrounds, I hear views that are almost identical: "This is worse than Iraq." It is not easy for Muslims to watch, every night, TV pictures of the destruction that Israel has wreaked in Lebanon. We find it difficult to understand why our government has steadfastly supported the US in giving a green light to Israel, allowing the killing to continue.

I recently took part in a televised appeal for donations to help victims of the attacks. Callers found it difficult to understand why we couldn't avert this man-made humanitarian crisis, and even more difficult to argue against those who bundle Iraq and Lebanon together to denounce British foreign policy in the Middle East. It is also difficult to understand why Tony Blair, who led the way on Africa last year, appears to have lost his way on the Middle East. British foreign policy is not anti-Muslim, but that is, increasingly, a challenging argument to make.

In the past two weeks Hizbullah has killed dozens of innocent civilians in Israel. At the same time Israel has killed around 10 times as many in Lebanon, and forced a fifth of its population to flee their homes.

One principle separates a sensible and humane response to terror from a policy that simply feeds a cycle of violence. That principle is that military attacks, whatever their justified purpose, should never cause disproportionate harm to civilians. That is what the Geneva conventions and international humanitarian law are all about.

On Tuesday, the 14th day of this dreadful conflict, I attended a meeting in the House of Commons with a number of international lawyers. They had no doubt that Israel's attacks, on such a huge scale, were a clear violation of international law. The UN has said the same. They also suggested that the UK's tacit support for Israel's campaign raised painful questions about the legality of Britain's own policy. And we have since learned that Prestwick airport has been used as a stopover for aircraft carrying bombs to Israel.

Since 9/11 British foreign policy has failed to stand up against an increasing trend to brutal, and usually ineffective, counterinsurgency around the world. This is unfortunate because, as in Lebanon, the UK could play a more useful role. Moreover, if it doesn't then Labour could lose more supporters than it lost over the government's decision to go to war in Iraq.

The Labour government in the past has played a far more honourable role. It has seen that Britain can gain from a safer world, not just from promoting a narrow national self-interest. The prime minister in particular has long argued that the international community has a "responsibility to protect" people threatened by genocide and war crimes around the world. Last year he helped win the UN's agreement on this point. Labour said it would never turn its back on "another Rwanda".

Lebanon is not "another Rwanda" but Israel, like Hizbullah, is committing war crimes in Lebanon. And what is Britain doing to protect the victims of these war crimes? What happened to Britain's responsibility to protect them?

The people being killed happen to be mainly Muslims. But that is not the point. The point is that war crimes should be condemned no matter who commits them, or whom they are committed against, and whether they are committed in the name of some evil racism or a misplaced sense of what will defeat terrorism. If British foreign policy cannot command greater respect among its own citizens, what chance is there in the Middle East?

I will continue to do my utmost to lobby the Government to undertake the necessary action alongside the international community to establish an immediate ceasefire.

Correct as of 1st September 2006

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