Europe must take the initiative

by Ken Livingstone, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 4 January 2009

...renewing the truce is meaningless to Gazan..

With more than 400 dead and 2,000 seriously injured at the time of writing, it is time that western leaders put real pressure upon Israel to stop its onslaught on Gaza. Instead, the Bush administration in the US is explicitly supporting Israel, EU leaders are dithering and the British government refuses to condemn the disproportionate killing of Palestinians.

This approach is a green light for Israel to continue unavoidably indiscriminate attacks on the most densely populated territory in the world. To stop this, a change in the attitude of our own and other European governments is essential.

That requires an analysis that fits the facts. First, this is not a conflict between two equivalent forces. Hamas's weapons are crude and inaccurate missiles capable of causing fear, naturally, but not of damage or death remotely approaching the scale of what Israel has inflicted upon Gaza. Second, the original ceasefire, which expired on December 19, was violated from the beginning by Israel. From the start, it failed to end its illegal blockade of Gaza within the 10 days envisaged. Instead, it was tightened, cutting off food, fuel, medicine and all movement of people, in and out. Alongside this, Israel continued military attacks, killing more than 20 people during what was supposed to be a ceasefire.

That is why the majority of people in Gaza saw no point in renewing an agreement under which they were being slowly throttled. Israel 's government well understood that for a ceasefire to be meaningful, the siege of Gaza had to end. Instead, it tightened the screw to the point where it created enough tension to justify the present onslaught in the run-up to its elections.

Third, Gaza cannot be seen in isolation. It is part of a wider picture of systematic flouting by Israel of all efforts to broker peace with the Palestinians, as, for example, the illegal construction of settlements in the West Bank continues apace.

For all of these reasons, the false narrative of David Miliband and other western leaders that there is some kind of equivalence between the actions of Hamas and of Israel, or even that Israel is simply defending itself, must end. The way out of the immediate situation is obvious. Israel must call off its military campaign. The blockade of Gaza must end and Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel. That respects the right to life and security of both the Israelis and Palestinians. Hamas has said it would accept these terms.

But the Israeli government has made clear it has no intention of agreeing to such a reasonable way out. That is why international pressure to end the killing is essential. The present US administration will do nothing; it is to be hoped that Barack Obama will take a different approach when he takes office. In the meantime, it falls to the European Union and our own government to act.

As a first step, European ambassadors should be recalled from Israel until the military offensive stops. And Britain should lead by example. Second, the European Union/Israel trade agreement should be suspended, as its human rights provisions have clearly been violated.

Third, if these measures do not bring rapid results, further and stronger action will be required. Europe is a critical trade partner for Israel. We have the economic leverage to end this conflict. We should use it.