No, Minister
This morning I sent the following to my MP, the Rt Honourable Malcom Rifkind, MP for Kensington.
Dear Mr Rifkind
I am writing to express my concern over the PM's recent remarks about Israel in his speech in Ankara.
He said that 'Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.' That phrase rather belies the new Olympic swimming pool, shopping mall, fancy restaurants and overflowing shops and stalls in Gaza. With its billions in foreign aid, in fact the standard of living in Gaza is higher than that in Turkey.
The PM said that 'The Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was completely unacceptable.' In fact, that ship was boarded by the Israelis in order to search for weapons and explosives that are routinely used by Hamas to attack Israel and murder Israeli citizens. Gaza is subject to this blockade because, as you will recall, the government of Gaza, Hamas, is waging a war of annihilation against Israel. They have categorically rejected any peace talks, or the possibility of any negotiated peace, while firing tens of thousands of explosive rockets into Israeli population centres. They are on the record as being committed to the destruction of the U.N. member state of Israel.
It will also be recalled that it was the Israelis who were attacked - beaten with iron bars and bats, stabbed with knives, shot at with guns, thrown over the edge of the deck - when they tried to board the ship, which refused requests to divert and have its cargo delivered after being searched for weapons.
The PM's comments are unhelpful - and contribute to a through-the-looking-glass moral relativism which has a real cost in blood, paid by Israelis.
Thanks very much for your time and attention to these matters.
With all best regards,
Michael Stephen Fuchs
I am writing to express my concern over the PM's recent remarks about Israel in his speech in Ankara.
He said that 'Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.' That phrase rather belies the new Olympic swimming pool, shopping mall, fancy restaurants and overflowing shops and stalls in Gaza. With its billions in foreign aid, in fact the standard of living in Gaza is higher than that in Turkey.
The PM said that 'The Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was completely unacceptable.' In fact, that ship was boarded by the Israelis in order to search for weapons and explosives that are routinely used by Hamas to attack Israel and murder Israeli citizens. Gaza is subject to this blockade because, as you will recall, the government of Gaza, Hamas, is waging a war of annihilation against Israel. They have categorically rejected any peace talks, or the possibility of any negotiated peace, while firing tens of thousands of explosive rockets into Israeli population centres. They are on the record as being committed to the destruction of the U.N. member state of Israel.
It will also be recalled that it was the Israelis who were attacked - beaten with iron bars and bats, stabbed with knives, shot at with guns, thrown over the edge of the deck - when they tried to board the ship, which refused requests to divert and have its cargo delivered after being searched for weapons.
The PM's comments are unhelpful - and contribute to a through-the-looking-glass moral relativism which has a real cost in blood, paid by Israelis.
Thanks very much for your time and attention to these matters.
With all best regards,
Michael Stephen Fuchs
