'Hamas leader's invitation to address MPs provokes fury'

Wednesday, 22 April 2009 12:47

The invitation extended by a former Labour Minister and now independent MP, Clare Short, to Khalid Mish'al, head of Hamas’ political bureau, to address British MPs via a video link has predictably been criticized by the Foreign Office and Israel.

The Independent cites a Foreign Office spokesperson as stating: "We [British Government] do not believe in talking to Hamas as things stand, as we do not think that anything positive would result from it. Indeed it will undermine the position of those Palestinians who are working towards a peaceful solution to the crisis."

The government’s belief that Hamas is not committed to peace stands in contrast to the view of Sinn Fein’s leader, Gerry Adams, who on a visit to Gaza earlier this month said, following his meeting with Ismail Haniyeh, that he was encouraged that Hamas did want peace and that progress in this regard was indeed possible.

No doubt those Labour MPs, including Clare Short, who recently met with Mish'al in Syria, are similarly convinced that no progress towards peace could take place without Hamas’ involvement in the negotiations.

As the government begins to communicate with ‘carefully selected’ contacts in the political wing of Hezbollah, might it recognize that the inconsistency in its policy of engagement, speaking to Hezbollah but not Hamas, does more harm than good to its endeavours to broker a lasting peace in the troubled region?

The Foreign Office spokesperson said, "It is, however, up to individual MPs to make decisions about the organisation and people like Mr Meshal."

Let's hope MPs listening to Mish'al encourage a sensible rethink of the government's current policy of non communication.

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