Tuesday, December 15, 2009

UK policy?

Last Wednesday we went to a brunch in Netanya in support of Laniado Hospital, where British Ambassador Tom Phillips spoke. He was a very nice fellow, very friendly and pleasant, but to tell the truth I can't remember a single thing he said. He mostly spoke about being a diplomat and gave amusing quotes from various sources. He also mentioned that being a diplomat in Israel is even more difficult than elsewhere because so many senior government officials visit and so many international agencies are involved. But, he completely avoided any specific comments.
He agreed to answer questions and even "hard" questions, so I asked him one. "Why did the UK support the Swedish initiative in the EU to divide Jerusalem and unilaterally establish a Palestinian State, when all previous peace processes were based on UN resolutions that require negotiations between the parties." His answer was typically diplomatic: both sides have interests, you musn't forget that the Palestinians have their ambitions, but as far as the reports are concerned "don't believe everything you read in the press." In other words, the widely reported support of the UK for Sweden in this case was not true?!
So I wrote him the following letter:

Dear Ambassador Phillips:
It was a pleasure seeing you today at Laniado Hospital. I was the person who asked the question regarding the policy of the British Government in the negotiations over EU Middle East policy. According to all reports I have seen, the UK supported the Swedish proposal to divide Jerusalem between Israel and a putative Palestinian State and supported the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State.
In your response your main point was "don't believe what you read in the press," the implication of which is that this was not British policy and therefore the press was widely misrepresenting the British position. I think that is an important distinction, and I am writing to ask if you can provide any evidence for your implication that this was not British policy. Is there any UK Government statement, memo or document which supports your position, rather than that of the whole of the media?
According to media reports it was France, Poland, Slovenia and several other EU countries that opposed the Swedish initiative, and that resulted in a compromise EU statement that was more conciliatory and more in line with previous EU policy. Until now all peace processes have been based on UN resolutions that require Israel and the Palestinains to engage in negotiations to mutually resolve the conflict. Such a policy of unilateral action would be dangerous, since it also releases Israel to carry out unilateral actions, and the whole situation could deteriorate.
Those of us who wish to see peace in the area cannot but be concerned by this supposed British policy, that you have so diplomatically sidestepped.
Yours sincerely
Jack Cohen
Professor Hebrew University (retd.)
British citizen

So far I have received no reply.

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