by Peter Martino
March 12, 2012 at 5:00 am
March 12, 2012 at 5:00 am
"We gave the Palestinians money to help the poor, but they spend it on hate education." — Andrew Percy, M.P.It does not often happen that a cabinet minister loses his temper and starts scolding a parliamentarian of his own party. Last week, however, William Hague, the normally even-tempered British Foreign Secretary and one of the most influential politicians of the governing Conservative Party, lost his cool in a heated discussion with thirty MPs belonging to the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI). The MPs accused Haig of being part of a "bigoted" Foreign Office plot against Israel.
"The Foreign Office is not pro-Palestinian. I've never heard such claptrap," an angry Haig snapped at Douglas Carswell MP when the latter told Haig that he is "under the thumb" of "pro-Arabist" diplomats in the Foreign Office. "The Foreign Office displays a kind of bigotry towards Israel," Carswell said. "The whole idea of self-determination in the Middle East is anathema to some Foreign Office people. It is anti-Israel just as it is pro-EU."
Haig reacted by calling Carswell a "fantasist" who is "talking total nonsense." Carswell, however, was not alone in his criticism. James Arbuthnot MP, a respected senior Tory, called on Haig to be "more constructive" and not "alienate" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Haig had recently called "belligerent." Robert Halfon MP told Hague: "The Foreign Office has not done enough to stop the delegitimization of Israel. We must speak up for its right to exist."
Others were equally critical. Nick Boles MP claimed that Britain had not done enough to condemn the Palestinian National Authority for glorifying suicide bombers. Hindu MP Priti Patel, one of the young upcoming women in the Conservative Party, said: "We must be more critical of the Palestinians for not giving up violence." Andrew Percy MP added: "We give the Palestinians money to help the poor, but they spend it on hate education."
When Carswell insisted and told Haig, "Ministers are supposed to direct officials, not the other way round. You are being one-sided and saying completely unacceptable things about a fellow democratic country," Haig replied: "It is completely untrue to suggest I have been taken captive by the Foreign Office. I overrule their advice all the time." With this remark, Haig implicitly acknowledged that the Foreign Office is, indeed, biased against Israel. Read the rest on:
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