British Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg seems to be changing his tune on Palestine, writes Stuart Littlewood* in London In the space of a few short years Nick Clegg has shot from obscurity to stardom in British politics, joining Conservative Party leader David Cameron at the head of Britain's coalition government. Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, is deputy prime minister and gets to play PM from time to time, like when Cameron appears to be enjoying a perk that's laughably called "paternity leave". Cameron too came from nowhere to lead a party that's said to be 80 per cent loyal to Israel. This patron of the Jewish National Fund then became prime minister with Clegg's help. But what exactly is Clegg's game on the foreign affairs front? Last year he seemed to be his own man and was writing this about Gaza in the British newspaper The Guardian: "what has the British government and the international community done to lift the blockade? [of Gaza] Next to nothing. Tough-sounding declarations are issued at regular intervals but little real pressure is applied. It is a scandal that the international community has sat on its hands in the face of this unfolding crisis." "No doubt the febrile sensitivities of the Middle East have deterred governments, caught between recriminations from both sides. No doubt diplomats have warned that exerting pressure on Israel and Egypt may complicate the peace process. But surely the consequences of not lifting the blockade are far more grave?" It was shockingly provocative stuff in pro-Israel Westminster. Around the same time Clegg told the British newspaper The Jewish Chronicle: "There is simply not a shred of racism in me... The very suggestion that I might explicitly or tacitly give cover for racism, I find politically abhorrent and personally deeply offensive." I presumed this to be a warning not to count on his support for the Zionist project. But now, following the electoral good fortune that catapulted him to the top, and in the wake of Israel's murderous assault on the Mavi Marmara earlier this year, Clegg has begun to change his tune. He welcomed the appointment of UK politician Lord Trimble to Israel's farcical inquiry into its own entrails, well aware that Trimble is a founding member of the new international movement "Friends of Israel Initiative". At the Liberal Democrats' annual conference recently, he abandoned any non-racist credentials he may have had by attending a fringe meeting of his Party's Friends of Israel Group along with the new deputy Israeli ambassador to the UK. According to a report in Middle East Monitor, Clegg thanked Friends of Israel for the work they had done to promote themselves within the party and declared himself an admirer of "the democratic traditions and liberal ethos of life within Israel." Clegg has a lot to learn if he thinks Israel is some kind of Western-style liberal democracy. He wasn't even-handed enough to attend a meeting of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, where Britain has helped to crush a blossoming, non-racist democracy. In harmony with the puppet-masters in the White House, he said that much hinges on "the talks". It is remarkable how those who promote "the talks" never speak of the Israelis' automatic peace-wrecking tactics -- their defiance of international law requiring them to get off Palestinian territory and their continuing killing spree and land thieving, which continue unabated while Palestinians are required meekly to submit to the humiliation of going through the motions of negotiation. Instead, they whisper respectfully of Israel's partial "moratorium" on its illegal construction of settlements, as if suspending a criminal programme to seize more land and insert more armed squatters to terrorise Palestinian villagers amounted to a major concession. And how can Clegg or any other leader go along with talks that stand democratic principle on its head and invite Abbas, whose presidential term ran out long ago, who has no popular mandate from the Palestinians and who assumes brutal, dictatorial powers? Are they barmy? Their idea appears to be to get an agreement -- any agreement, even one signed by a chancer like Abbas who has no legitimacy -- just to save a few worthless faces rather than deliver justice to millions and resolve the decades-old conflict. The leader of Hamas is right when he says that the massive imbalance of power on the ground makes negotiation at the present time grossly unfair and plays into the enemy's hands. That's another fundamental point of principle studiously ignored by the West's political elite. The international community has unfinished business to take care of before meaningful talks can take place. It stands to reason that the correct sequence of events should be: Israel ends the occupation and siege; Israel withdraws behind its pre-1967 borders in compliance with UN resolutions and international law; talks begin with no gun held to the Palestinians' head; and the Palestinians are properly represented by their elected leadership, even if that is Hamas. If the Americans have a problem with these basics they should keep away from the process and let the UN handle it. Actually, the UN should have insisted on handling it in the first place. Why doesn't the organisation get a grip on its responsibilities? In the meantime, Nick Clegg might find it refreshing to re-read the Preamble to his own party's constitution, a very fine document indeed, especially where it says: "We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, and we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience." "We reject all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality. Recognising that the quest for freedom and justice can never end, we promote human rights and open government." "Our responsibility for justice and liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries; we are committed to fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services." These principles are as good as any for guiding a person through political life. But how many of them are reflected in the coalition's policy dealing with the scandal of the Holy Land and in Clegg's recent pronouncements? I wait with interest to see how he and Cameron react when Israel's "moratorium" on squatter settlements expires. Will the dynamic duo call for sanctions against Israel for persistent land theft, endless breaches of international law, ongoing lethal violence and continuing defiance of UN resolutions? Will they show the way if necessary and take unilateral action, as principled leaders should? * The writer is the author of the book Radio Free Palestine.
