Israel - a Look Back
August 2nd, 2007Avid readers of my blog (don’t all shout at once) will remember my trip to Israel last November. In June of this year, Conservative Friends of Israel published an article I wrote for their Magazine about the visit. It is reproduced in full below:
“The lively debate that has erupted in Israel about the remains of a ruler who died nearly two thousand years ago tells us much about a nation whose democratic tradition is its greatest strength. I am sure there are times that Israel’s current political leaders wish that they had the powers of Herod The Great, builder of Masada, the Second Temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they must surely know that to adopt Herod’s way of doing things would mean an end to the central idea of modern Israel that has helped to sustain its existence against so many enemies.
This belief in democracy shone through when I visited Israel last November as one of a group of Conservative parliamentary candidates invited by CFI. Any concern that I had about being shielded from the truth with visits to Potemkin villages was blown away by my experiences. We were able to meet and engage in unfettered discussion with a wide range of Israeli politicians, civil servants, academics, soldiers and Palestinian political activists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Our visits to the Security Fence and to the Lebanese border brought home the elusive nature of peace in the region to us.
I was born and bred in Wales, which as every schoolboy knows is the same size as Israel but with only half as many people. Even in the smallest of countries, divisions can exist. It is as quick to drive from Tel Aviv to the fenced area of the West Bank as it is to journey from wealthy Cardiff Bay to the markedly poorer Rhondda Valleys. The similarities end there, however, because in Israel, fundamental questions of peace and security dominate people’s everyday lives in a way that Welsh people would find difficult to comprehend. I remain sceptical that greater security measures will bring real peace, but wholly understand and acknowledge the direct threats that exist to Israel’s way of life.
My grateful thanks to CFI for arranging an enjoyable and informative visit. Let freedom and democracy live!”
To support the State of Israel is not the same as supporting Israeli policy towards the Palestinian people. Fences are not the solution, but part of the problem. Israel does not need unquestioning sychophants - it needs candid friends.
