UK: Reconstruction of Gaza

LOCATION Sharm el-Sheikh
SPEAKER Foreign Secretary, David Miliband
DATE 02/03/2009
Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, made a speech at the Gaza reconstruction conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.

We are here because the Gaza conflict was a disaster for the Palestinian people. It cost 1400 lives. It deepened division between the West Bank and Gaza. It fuelled despair and rage across the region. It exposed the weaknesses of our peace process.

Our responsibility is not just to rebuild gaza, but to work to prevent further conflict. So in 2009 we need to do things differently.

There must be:

1. Physical reconstruction in the West Bank and Gaza: visble signs of progress to give people hope.

2. Political reconstruction to give the Palestinian people a single government.

3. International engagement of a wholly different order, led by an energised US Administration, and energetically backed by the whole international community.

4. And a convincing peace plan

Aid is desperately needed for short term humanitarian relief and long term reconstruction. Prime Minister Fayyad has powerfully set out the scale of the challenge and also the right plan to meet it. The UK is proud to support his plan. All of us here are fortunate to have him as a partner.

My colleague Douglas Alexander, the British International Development Secretary, announced yesterday that of the 0m pledged in Paris in 2008, Britain would dedicate m for "early recovery" activities in Gaza to add to the m extra resources given since the Gaza conflict by the UK.

But we need more than pledges of aid. The aid needs to get in; it needs to be well spent; and then it needs to be sustained. Otherwise the saga of reconstruction and destruction will go on and on.

The aid we commit needs the sustained cooperation of Israel for it to enter Gaza. The UK strongly supports the humanitarian framework which has been developed by the UN. I congratulate Secretary General Ban and his team for their work. UNSC Resolution 1860 spelt out the need for comprehensive opening of crossings on the basis of the 2005 Movement and Access agreement. It must be put into practice.

But there will be only limited physical reconstruction without political reconstruction. The Palestinian people need a single government across the Occupied Territories. Gaza cannot be left until last.

In 2009 that government needs to be dedicated to humanitarian assistance, physical reconstruction and election preparation. That is why we support the efforts of Egypt to help create a non factional interim government. Those in the region who stand in the way of that government through maximalist demands and defiant ultimatums do no service to the Palestinian people, or to themselves.

For real and enduring progress on the ground, we need a plan to realise the goal of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state, not more processes that fail to achieve the goal.

Next year the Palestinian people need to be able to turn out and vote in an election where a realistic prospect of statehood is on the table. If not, then those who claim violence is the answer will find recruitment easy.

That is why I strongly welcome the commitments of President Obama, the activism of Senator Mitchell, and today's eloquent speech by Secretary Clinton.

14 months ago Prime Minister Olmert said that if a Palestinian state was not agreed in a year, it would become unrealisable. Today, the goal is further adrift. Violence, including rocket attacks has intensified; settlements have expanded; despair has grown.

The UK believes that the route to a Palestinian state lies through a comprehensive regional approach. The Arab Peace Initiative sets out the vision.

But the truth is that the very idea of a peace process has lost credibility in Israel and the Arab world. So we are at a point of decision.