Phil Weiss: Good afternoon, fight fans. That headline is an homage to the late heavyweight champion Sonny
Liston, who said after moving to Denver from Philadelphia, where he'd been arrested
several times: "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the
mayor of Philadelphia."
How different is the discourse in England than it is here? The other
day Eva Smagacz wrote a letter on Gaza to the very conservative member
of British parliament
who represents her: Nicholas Soames (who is, by the way, a close friend of Prince
Charles). Here is his response:
From Claire Barker, on Behalf Of SOAMES, Nicholas
20 January 2009 05:19 PM
Dear Eva Smagacz,
Thank you very much
for your email about the appalling situation in Gaza.
I am grateful to you
for drawing your views to my attention.
What the Israelis are
doing is not only morally indefensible it is also totally contrary to the rules
of war.
I am gravely
concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and have been for a long
time, and the loss of life and injury is completely unacceptable and an absolute
affront to civilised behaviour.
I have called for an
urgent ceasefire to be implemented by both sides which is the only way ahead to
get the peace process going again to allow action to be taken to address the
terrible suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza and to protect Israel security.
I have passed my
constituents’ comments to the Foreign Office who I am satisfied are
taking a very robust line on this.
I attach for your attention a letter
which I received on Friday 9th January from Bill Rammell MP,
Minister of State.
I have copied below
an intervention that I made during the Foreign Secretary’s statement to
the House of Commons last Monday:-
Mr.
Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex) (Con): Has the Foreign
Secretary warned the Government of Israel that despite the very grave
provocation they have suffered, they are acting contrary to the laws of war?
David
Miliband:
I have not given Israel any legal position of that kind, but at all stages I
have stressed the importance of the commitments that all member states of the
United Nations have, both in advance of the conflict and during it. It is
right, therefore, that we say that any abuse should be properly investigated
promptly and expeditiously.
The
full statement may be viewed by the link below:-
I should add that I
am the President of the Conservative Middle East Council and take a great
interest in the Middle East generally and I have never known the situation now
to be so dangerous. My colleagues on CMEC met yesterday to discuss the
situation.
Incidentally, there
was a debate in the House of Commons last week and I have copied a link below
to the Foreign Secretary’s statement to the House yesterday:-
I have also signed
EDM 408:-
That this House
expresses outrage at Israel's overwhelmingly disproportionate use of force in
Gaza which continues to inflict massive civilian casualties, particularly
amongst children and which has involved strikes on aid convoys, United Nations
schools and medical personnel; calls for an immediate ceasefire including the
end of Israel's attacks on Gaza, the withdrawal of its troops and the cessation
of rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel; further calls for the demands of the
Security Council to allow the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout
Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including food, fuel and medical treatment to
be implemented and for the end of the long-term Israeli blockade of Gaza;
further calls on the Government to initiate proceedings, with the other High
Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention, to require the protection of
civilians in times of war and to require accountability for military action
which contravenes the Convention; further calls for an arms embargo on both
sides and for the remit of any international forces deployed to include
protection of Palestinian civilians from blockade and attack as well as the
prevention of arms supplies which threaten Israeli civilians; further calls on
the European Union to demonstrate that the continued implementation of its
Association Agreement with Israel is conditional on Israel's respecting human
rights; demands that Israel stops blocking international journalists from
entering Gaza; and calls on the international community to redouble its efforts
to achieve the lasting settlement of a secure and independent state of
Palestine alongside a secure and independent Israel.
The question of
sanctions and war crimes will be addressed.
Thank you very much
for getting in touch.
Yours sincerely,
Nicholas Soames
