The only solution to the crisis in the Middle East is to create a "viable"
Palestinian state, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said.
A state of Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side must be
the "destination" of any peace process, he said.

A House of Commons debate on the Middle East crisis saw senior Labour MP Gerald
Kaufman denounce Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a "war criminal".

Mr Straw told MPs it was time for a "sober and serious" examination of the
issues because the prospect of peace now "hung by a thread".

The efforts of US secretary of state Colin Powell, currently in the Middle
East, had the UK Government's full support, he said.

But neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis could claim a monopoly of right
and wrong.

'Real future'

Mr Straw told MPs he found reports of deaths on both sides "deeply disturbing".

"Only by a two state solution are we ever going to achieve a resolution of this
conflict," said Mr Straw.

"These are communities which have to live side by side or they cannot live at
all.

"There is no future for these territories, no real future for Israel, unless
they can reach an accommodation."

For the Conservatives, shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said that any
future peace depended on a mutual sense of security.
He urged the Israeli government to stop its incursions into the West Bank.
But he said if PLO chairman Yasser Arafat was unable to prevent suicide
bombings then another method would have to be found.

Mr Ancram - who like Mr Straw said he was a long-standing friend of Israel -
said that equally he had long supported the rights of the Palestinian people.
"The strongest lesson I have learnt is never to give up hope," he said.

"However dark the horizon there are always steps back from the abyss to the
negotiating table.
"They are neither quick nor easy but they carry hope and in the Middle East at
the moment hope is at a premium."

'Intolerable'

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said there were
parallels between the Middle East situation and the Northern Ireland peace
process. But, he stressed, there was one key difference.

"When the most terrible atrocities were committed at Omagh or Enniskillen, the
British government did not put attack helicopters over the Bogside and we most
certainly did not invade terrorist-supporting enclaves in the south."

Israel was damaging not just its credentials as a democracy but also the hopes
of a lasting settlement through its actions, even though the provocation
was "intolerable", he told MPs.

'Repulsive'

Labour former minister Gerald Kaufman launched a blistering attack on Mr
Sharon, describing the Israeli prime minister as a "war criminal" and a "fool."

"Sharon has ordered his troops to use methods of barbarism against the
Palestinians.

"It is time to remind Sharon that the Star of David belongs to all Jews and not
to his repulsive government.

"His actions are staining the Star of David with blood."

The confusion in US foreign policy made it unlikely that an attack on Iraq
would be successful, Mr Kaufman said.

"Sharon has made it impossible for the Americans to take action against Iraq.

"To do so would be to unite the whole Muslim world against the United States,"
he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~