David Cameron has described Gaza as a ''prison camp'' and appealed to the Israeli Government to allow the free flow of humanitarian goods and people in and out of the Palestinian territory.
Mr Cameron's comments came during a visit to Turkey, where relations with Israel have been strained since Israeli troops stormed a flotilla of ships carrying supplies to Gaza in May, killing eight Turks and one Turkish-American.
Speaking in Ankara, the Prime Minister denounced the attack on the flotilla as ''completely unacceptable'' and restated his call for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a ''swift, transparent and rigorous'' inquiry.
Pity he didn't say it to the US media when he was in Washington a few days ago, being told what his foreign policy is. But then again maybe he knew that the US media don't report that stuff.
ReplyDelete<span>They say those things only when they visiting and willing to please the host.. What's positive here is that it might open doors for others to dare being critical.</span>
ReplyDeleteI never thought that I would ever hear a statement like this from a British PM, and a conservative one at that. This is the party of Margaret Thatcher after all. I want to believe that things are changing, but then again the cynical side of me tells me that Cameron will soon make up for this statement. Wait and see...
ReplyDelete<span>I'm with you on this..As we've seen with Oliver Stone who just retracted his comments about "Jewish control of the media" just one day after he made them..My guess is that when Cameron will visit Tel-Aviv at one stage he'lls insist that "Israel has the right to defend itself"..In any case, a change, however slow, is taking place..It's palpable.</span>
ReplyDeleteYes, they'll drag him round the Museum of the Holocaust and the "discotel", and he will feel truly humble.
ReplyDeleteOne possible explanation for this is that Cameron is acting on instructions from Obama. He's been sent to Turkey and South Asia as His Master's Voice, to speak the words that Obama dare not utter.
Jemmy,
ReplyDeleteI've read something about Cameron being the voice of Obama today. I still don't see why Obama would want such sentiment to be expressed in public. If anything it would make him feel small (not that I have much respect or faith in Cameron). Obama has proved to us time and again that he's not much of a leader (well, at least as far as the ME is concerned). The last thing he would like to be reminded of is someone who can (or appears to) "say it as it is."
I was thinking of this as 'flying a kite'. Cameron makes a statement and Obama waits for the reaction. If not too adverse Obama might come out with something similar, garnering goodwill from the moderate camp. If reaction is bad Obama keeps silent (which he's good at) or makes a statement distancing himself from Cameron.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, it might be intended to convey to the Palestinians the idea that they have a friend among the US's closest allies, thus giving them false hope but helping to keep the lid on things.
Anyway, all Cameron has said is that Israel should loosen its stranglehold on Gaza for the sake of its own security. Even the arch-zionist Blair has gone that far.
There's an opinion piece in today's Guardian making the case for Cameron as dummy for ventriloquist Obama -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/29/david-cameron-obamas-useful-idiot