Realising the error of your ways
Dear Tony Blair,
Being one of the chief architects of bringing chaos to the Middle East, I was surprised that you took the role as peace envoy to the Middle East a few months back. Your pro-Israel stance as Prime Minister made me extremely angry on many occasions as you seemed to completely ignore the suffering of the Palestinians. Thankfully this is now beginning to change.
Reading about your recent visit to the West Bank gave me some hope that you are finally seeing the reality of the disgraceful treatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government. The discrimination is shocking and it sounds as though you saw plenty of evidence of this on your trip. To cut a long story short, the Palestinians are treated like inferior human beings and the Israeli government are determined to wipe them off the face of the map by encroaching on (and quickly building settlements on) every piece of Palestinian land that they can find. As I’ve always said, the Palestinians want peace but Israel does not. Excluding Hamas from political discussions was a stupid move and is likely to make a movement towards peace even more difficult.
I wish you all the best for finding an amicable solution, but do not underestimate the utter contempt for Palestinians shown by the Israeli government.
Regards,
A.Tory
What a strange Tory you appear to be! As a British Tory looking at the struggle between the Arabs and the Jews I would have expected you to hold your nose, and your tongue, and remind yourself that the only question of interest in the whole rotten mess is: What’s in it for us? All this moralistic nonsense is for, dare I say, girly-men! Get a grip, Sir, the only basis for running a foreign policy is national self-interest, not who has been nasty to whom.
I’m not really one for holding my tongue, to be honest. Most national conflicts are worth leaving alone, as they tend to be internal matters. However, when we are talking about considerable loss of human life and the oppression and/or killing of native individuals, I would like to think that the British government would take an appropriate stance.
Furthermore, the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict on surrounding countries is extremely serious and contributes to the instability of the entire Middle East – and seeing as the British were partly responsible for this mess in the first place after WWII we have a duty to help sort it out.
If I may say so, Sir, we do not “have a duty” to do anything, and the only “appropriate stance” is that which furthers our national interest. As things stand at present we, in this country, face a threat from militant Muslims. The Jews in Israel act as a very useful lightening conductor and bring on themselves much of what might otherwise be directed at us – you will note for example, that those countries that provide active support for international terrorism are, by and large, those furthest from the middle east. Consequently, it is in our national interest to keep Israel going for as long as possible and if that means holding our telescopes in the Nelsonian tradition then so be it.
I think that we do have a duty to seek a peaceful resolution to this conflict. To suggest that the UK is somehow entirely removed from the situation in the Middle East seems bizarre – after all, we invaded Iraq for the oil. Militant Muslims are indeed a threat to this country, but leaving Palestinians to be trodden on by the Israelis is unlikely to make Muslims thank the British government, especially in light of our ’special’ relationship with the USA that brings so much hatred on this country.
If self-interest is our only motive, helping the Palestinians is a perfectly sensible move as the anti-British feelings amongst radical Muslims would evaporate should we find a viable solution to the conflict. Having said that, I’d glad that our foreign policy occasionally strays beyond self-interest.
“we invaded Iraq for the oil”
Oh dear me, not that old chestnut again! Are you sure you’re a Tory? If we had wanted Iraqi oil we could have lifted sanctions and bought it at discount rates compared to other sources and without spending any of our ‘blood and treasure’.
And if you truly believe that militant Muslims will be pacified once a “viable” solution to the Palestine problem is found, and bearing in mind that for the vast majority of Arabs the only viable solution would be the ‘Final Solution’, then I fear you have much to learn concerning militant Islam.
Finally, I am astounded that you think that in a hostile and volatile world in which not only do we face threats from Islam but also from a resurgent and bellicose Russia, and an increasingly powerful China, we should give up our special relationship with America. Who else is likely to be helpful when the smelly stuff hits the fan – Europe!