The Foreign and Commonwealth office's reply regarding the Rafah border closure

[Iqbal Tamimi]

Dear All

I want to share with you first that I have receieved an e mail of support for the twinning initiative from our local MP for Kingswood Mr Roger Berry who is Chairing the Committee of arms control in the Parliament and who has shown tremendous support for the Palestinian Cause. I have already received by post from him two other letters one of which I am hoping to share with you when I manage to copy it. The second letter was a response on an earlier requests by me, he has been forwarding to the Foreign and Commonwealth office regarding the closure of the Rafah Crossing and the prevention of medical aid from entering Gaza by the Egyptian authorities, and here is the e mail I have sent him yesterday as a reply for Mr Ivan Lewis from the Foreign and Commonwealth office whose reply was unfortunately disappointing.

26 June 2009

Dear MP Mr Roger Berry

I am extremely grateful for the effort you have done on our behalf as Palestinian refugees and exiled Palestinian journalists especially with the Foreign and Commonwealth office.

Regarding the reply sent to you by Mr Ivan Lewis dated 22 June and I have received a copy of it, I have few comments.

1- Mr Lewis talked about the British Embassy in Cairo being in contact with Egyptian authorities in a vague comment that does not explain anything about the nature or the outcome of such talks or who was involved with those talks. We are used to such elastic comments. Talking to the Egyptian authorities is not good enough,’ talking’ has not made any difference over the years. We expect a much serious action when discussing such urgent humanitarian matters since it concerns the lives of innocent people.

2- Regarding the British government having no control on the crossing as Mr Lewis claimed, we know that perfectly well, but we also know that should the British government wants to use its weight as an active political player and friend of both Israel and Egypt it can.

3- It is not enough to keep saying that the Foreign Secretary has talked to the Israeli government to open the crossings; there are other means that can be used and has been used in the past with States that did not respect international law. Israel has maximized the suffering of innocent civilians and the destruction of housing & infrastructure in Gaza. Furthermore Israel stands accused of committing war crimes including the well documented use of white phosphorus which burned children and their mothers alive. Israel has not offered to compensate those people or offer them medical help even though Israeli officials kept claiming that all those casualties were attacked by mistake. Should such claim be accepted isn’t it reasonable that personnel from other countries be allow to enter Gaza to treat the wounded and to repair the damage? I would expect the British government to demand Israel to act responsibly and bear the consequences of its ‘attacks by mistake’.

4- Regarding the Egyptian authorities informing Mr Lewis that all aid and medical assistance should be channelled through the Egyptian Red Crescent - this seems like a joke. It is well known that the Egyptian Red Crescent does not dare to do anything contradicting the policies of the Egyptian government. Besides that, the people in Gaza are in need of many other forms of help, which is not considered medical - there are students who are supposed to travel to continue their education and can’t, there are families that should be reunited and they are still waiting on the border, there are friends who want to visit to offer their emotional support. We are not talking here about the people’s human right of enjoying a holiday like the rest of the inhabitants of this planet, we are only begging for the humble demand to allow visits by friends, and loved ones.

5- The point about informing the Egyptian Embassy six weeks ahead of leaving to help for a medical aid mission is the most preposterous suggestion. Do they expect a doctor who has sworn the oath and want to help a child with burns down to the bone to wait six weeks until they get a permission to help, while the child is screaming of pain? They can’t be serious. Six weeks? I wonder how Mr Lewis would feel if that child in agony is his own. I am not shocked with the Egyptian request because their record of human rights is known to all, I am only disappointed that our government just give in to such unacceptable measure. There is not even one explanation regarding Egypt’s decision to close the crossings and preventing any material from entering Gaza. Such measures lead to many un necessary deaths between people who died while trying to smuggle fuel and food through underground channels.

6- Regarding the paragraph about the Britain- Palestine All Parliamentary group, I find Mr Lewis’s comment about the importance of the Peace process which he described as (to improve the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians) is most unfair, there is a clear tendency to imply that there are similar levels of need for improvement of quality of life on both sides. This is unacceptable, how can the lives of people starved to death, bombed with white phosphorus, bathing in their own sewage after their infra structure was bombed, and under siege for a long time like animals can be compared with the lives of the Israeli’s who enjoy stolen waters and land, and have no difficulty travelling whenever they like, enjoying constant financial, political and military support by USA and a number of EU countries. I’m afraid that his comments shows disregard to our pain and misery as Palestinians.

7- We are also disappointed that his letter did not mention at all the request of the Parliamentary group regarding the demand to ban arms export to Israel.

8- Mr Lewis talked about ( continuing to consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza by supporting action to prevent the smuggling of arms into Gaza) NOT ONE WORD he said about the arms on the Israeli side, not one word about the only state in the Middle East that has atomic bombs and armed to be the Fourth strongest state in the world. Why on earth he calls for preventing the Gaza people from acquiring any means of defence while all other nations in the world have something to defend themselves with including his own country?

9- About his point regarding UK’s aid, the few millions he is talking about were not a fund for the people of Palestine and he knows that perfectly well. The financial aid was offered to the Palestinian Authorities to make sure that it is oppressing its own people should they attempt to stand against Israel’s policies. Mr Lewis has chosen to describe the aid offered for the PA as ( to take forward reform, deliver essential services in Gaza and the West Bank). It would be very kind of him if he can tell us about any steps of reform taken place with that money, and what kind of aid has arrived in Gaza through PA?

10- My last point is that I never thought that Mr Lewis would support creating a state that is built on discrimination upon faith, I was hoping that he would say that we are looking for comprehensive peace where democracy can prevail and equality regardless of people’s faith, not a two state solution, one of which will eventually discriminate against anyone who is not a Jew besides depriving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their right to return home. Sir, there are a serious problem of refugees that should be dealt with, and Mr Lewis’s reply has no indication of interest in how this will be done, I see quite the opposite, he is still disillusioned about who are the victims here, he has chosen to forget about the expanding illegal settlements, and the wall that is built on stolen land, and it seems he never heard about 11.000 Palestinian prisoners most of whom never stood a fair trial.

At the end of my letter allow me to thank you on behalf of many British and Palestinian mothers, journalists, and human rights activists for the wonderful efforts you are doing on behalf of those innocent people who have no voice or a platform to defend themselves, and I hope my comments of disappointment to Mr Lewis will be considered



Regards

Iqbal Tamimi – an exiled Palestinian journalist

Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network