Andrew Slaughter, MP (Labour) on meeting Mustafa Barghouti

The text that follows is from the newsletter (No 68) issued by MP Andrew Slaughter (Labour Party) that summarizes his meeting with Dr Mustafa Barghouti (founder in 1979, of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees).

With other MPs from the Britain-Palestine Group I met Dr Mustafa Barghouhi on Monday.  Dr Barghouthi is a member of the Palestinian Parliament not affiliated to Hamas or Fatah, and was runner-up to Mahmoud Abbas in the 2005 presidential Election. He’s recently appeared on The Daily Show and Hardtalk and is one of the most erudite and effective Palestinian politicians.  Here’s what he told us.

Since the Israelis and Palestinians began face to face negotiations in the 1990s, the number of Israeli settlers on the West Bank has grown from 200,000 to 500,000 – one reason why negotiations shouldn’t start without a settlement freeze.

Checkpoints, settler-only roads and the separation wall have followed the settlements.  75% of the wall runs inside the West Bank, by up to 25km, and now a second wall is being built to cut off the Jordan valley to the east from Palestinian towns.

The parts of the West Bank the wall cuts off contain 75% of its water resources, so talk of a land swap to leave the settlements in Israeli hands is unfeasible.
The current proposal from the Netanyahu Government would leave 11% of historic Palestine in Palestinian hands, compared with 45% under partition, 22% in 1967, and 18% under the Olso accords.  The Israelis also demand control of the settlements, Jerusalem, the Jordan border and all airspace.

GDP is $26,000 for Israelis and $1,000 for Palestinians, but Palestinians pay twice as much for water and electricity.  This type of discrimination leads to comparisons with Apartheid – though even the Boers didn’t have their own roads.

Dr Barghouthi is one of the strongest voices for Palestinian unity and non-violent protest, though he himself has been shot, beaten and subject to chemical attack by the Israeli Defence Force.