Stuart Littlewood writes:

As I write,

• 14,500 murdered
• 7,000 buried under the rubble
• 35,000 wounded
• 1.5 million displaced
• their homeland devastated, livelihoods destroyed, heritage erased.

And our politicians talk only of a four-day pause to the genocide!!!

At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in Parliament yesterday [22 November] Stephen Flynn (the Scottish National Party leader) asked what will happen after the temporary pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas: “At the end of four days, will we simply see a return to the killing of children in Gaza every 10 minutes, or will we in this House choose instead to back a permanent ceasefire?”
Rishi Sunak replied:

We will continue to work with the United States and Israel to ensure the safe return of hostages and maximise the opportunity of this temporary pause to step up aid to suffering civilians in Gaza. It is something that we have pushed for, that we have continued to do and that the UK is playing a leading role in delivering.

So he didn’t bother answering the question.

Back came Flynn:

Ultimately, what we need is not a pause in the killing of children, but an end to the killing of children, and I can think of no better time than now for the prime minister to advocate a permanent ceasefire. Given that he will not currently do that, will he instead lay the foundations for a two-state solution by finally recognising the state of Palestine?
Sunak:

Actually, the agreement that has been reached demonstrates that it was not right to have a unilateral ceasefire. What was right was to do as we have done and consistently push for a pause that would allow not just for aid to reach the people in Gaza who desperately need it but for hostages to be released. That is what we have pushed for, and I am glad that that is now being delivered, versus a unilateral ceasefire that would have emboldened and strengthened Hamas.

Our position on the middle east peace process more broadly is clear: we support a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. I have spoken to President Abbas and met him to discuss this issue, and we are clear about strengthening the Palestinian Authority and reinvigorating efforts to find a two-state solution. Our long-standing position is that we would recognise the state of Palestine when it best serves the interests of peace.

Sunak claims, without explaining, that it wasn’t right to have a “unilateral” ceasefire. This is war. How can a ceasefire be unilateral? He insists a pause was right, so that his “unilateral” war could resume afterwards. The logic of this – in the context of needing to stop the genocide and getting aid to the two million starving and wounded survivors, mostly children – he again doesn’t bother to explain. And why would it have emboldened Hamas? Even if it did, what of it? They are severely outnumbered and out-gunned, defending their sovereign territory and protecting, as best they can, the civilians who elected them.

Sunak then spouts the same old nonsense about “a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”. For a start, the Palestinians’ right to self-determination is non-negotiable. So is an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and the removal of Israel’s military and squatter thugs (settlers being too nice a term). There can never be peace without justice, and international law has already spoken. It’s waiting to be implemented. Only then can meaningful ‘negotiations’ begin.

So do get you ducks in a row, Mr Sunak, and in the right order. His attitude, lacking in empathy and humanity, is repulsive and his careless disregard of human suffering disgusting.

And while Sunak and his misfits commiserate with their Israeli friends over the hostages held by Hamas, they show no concern whatsoever for the thousands of Palestinians rotting in Israeli jails. At least the hostage swop highlights the awful, hidden truth. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, 7,200 prisoners are being held by Israel, among them 88 women and 250 children aged 17 and under. Over 1,200 are held under “administrative detention” without charge or trial and denied due process. Allegations against them are kept secret, so they cannot mount a defence.

This is also an opportunity to put the 1,200 Israeli dead from Hamas’s breakout attack into context. Figures published by the Israeli human rights organisation, B’Tselem, covering the last 23 years running from 29 September 2000 (the start of the second Intifada) to 27 September 2023 (before the present escalation) show:

Palestinians killed by Israeli forces 10,555; Palestinians killed by Israeli civilians 96; Palestinians killed by unknowns 16; Total 10,667

Israeli forces killed by Palestinians 449; Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians 881; Total 1,330. These figures include 2,270 Palestinian children killed versus 145 Israeli children, a ratio of nearly 16:1; and 656 Palestinian women to 261 Israelis, about 2.5:1.

Shocking, and a trifle one-sided, don’t you think? But as our government’s behaviour shows, it only matters when Israelis suffer. They don’t give a toss about the Palestinians. Looking around, most other governments in the West are just as pathetic.