Israel’s 39-year occupation of Arab lands has poisoned relations between the West and the Muslim world, Britain’s anti-war MP George Galloway said, according to Reuters news agency.
“The poison which circulates as a result of this unresolved conflict is poisoning our own lives in the West and making our people more endangered," Galloway told a press conference on Thursday at the end of his visit to Lebanon and Syria.
Israel seized Arab territories in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Palestine during the 1967 Middle East War. Although the Jewish state withdrew from Egypt and Jordan under peace agreements with the two countries, it still refuses to end its occupation of Palestine or Syria’s strategic Golan Heights.
Israel also invaded Lebanon in 1982 but was forced to withdraw by the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah in 2000.
"Every time we see a martyrdom video from a young Muslim who was ready to swap his life for many of ours it is Palestine at the heart of this man's motivation," Galloway said.
"It is now the duty of the backers of Israel to impress upon the Israeli leadership... a comprehensive peace."
Galloway, whose opposition to the Iraq War and support for the Palestinian cause has made him popular in the Arab world, also urged the British government to distance itself from the U.S. policies in the Middle East.
He also slammed British Prime Minister Tony Blair over his response to Israel’s latest offensive in Lebanon, saying that the prime minister’s silence should put more pressure on him to quit his job.
Blair, who is facing growing calls to step down, has been criticized in Britain for refusing to call for an immediate halt to Israel’s deadly assault in Lebanon, which killed more than 1,200 civilians.
Galloway also said a post-Blair foreign policy should re-engage Syria, which he described as "moderate, progressive, secular, nationalist".
The new government should also respect the fact that Syria is not a U.S. “slave”, he said.
Galloway, an outspoken critic of Tony Blair, was expelled from the Labour Party for his strong opposition to the 2003 U.S./UK-led invasion of Iraq.
Last year, he became a member of parliament for the anti-war Respect Party.
“The poison which circulates as a result of this unresolved conflict is poisoning our own lives in the West and making our people more endangered," Galloway told a press conference on Thursday at the end of his visit to Lebanon and Syria.
Israel seized Arab territories in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Palestine during the 1967 Middle East War. Although the Jewish state withdrew from Egypt and Jordan under peace agreements with the two countries, it still refuses to end its occupation of Palestine or Syria’s strategic Golan Heights.
Israel also invaded Lebanon in 1982 but was forced to withdraw by the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah in 2000.
"Every time we see a martyrdom video from a young Muslim who was ready to swap his life for many of ours it is Palestine at the heart of this man's motivation," Galloway said.
"It is now the duty of the backers of Israel to impress upon the Israeli leadership... a comprehensive peace."
Galloway, whose opposition to the Iraq War and support for the Palestinian cause has made him popular in the Arab world, also urged the British government to distance itself from the U.S. policies in the Middle East.
He also slammed British Prime Minister Tony Blair over his response to Israel’s latest offensive in Lebanon, saying that the prime minister’s silence should put more pressure on him to quit his job.
Blair, who is facing growing calls to step down, has been criticized in Britain for refusing to call for an immediate halt to Israel’s deadly assault in Lebanon, which killed more than 1,200 civilians.
Galloway also said a post-Blair foreign policy should re-engage Syria, which he described as "moderate, progressive, secular, nationalist".
The new government should also respect the fact that Syria is not a U.S. “slave”, he said.
Galloway, an outspoken critic of Tony Blair, was expelled from the Labour Party for his strong opposition to the 2003 U.S./UK-led invasion of Iraq.
Last year, he became a member of parliament for the anti-war Respect Party.
