(Spectator-UK) Tom Tugendhat - The Arab Spring showed that the Israel-Palestinian conflict doesn't matter. Those in Damascus and Cairo know Israel isn't the cause of the Middle East's problems. Dictatorship, corruption, and unresponsive government destroy lives and none are caused by Israel. In the face of unemployment and kleptocracy, Israel was irrelevant. Today in Syria, Israel-Palestine isn't even a sideshow. The UN resolution condemning settlement building has allowed those who want to divert attention in the region away from the real difficulties (in their own societies) to do just that. The resolution will hurt our allies and weaken those who have already taken a risk for peace. Why was it more pressing than other disputed territories such as Western Sahara, Kashmir or Tibet? It isn't. The writer, a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a Conservative MP.
2017-01-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive