Professor Joe Goldblatt, Chairman, SNP Friends for Peace in the Middle East

THIS morning in Aberdeen, SNP conference delegates will debate the perennially vexed problem of peace in the Middle East. Like Scots of all political persuasions and none, SNP members are outward looking and internationally minded. We care about the wider world and work towards the day that Scotland has a meaningful place in it.

Our desire to see Scotland take its place amongst the community of nations is matched by a desire to see harmony and peace within that global community. So today we will debate and discuss how best the countries of the Middle East can secure peace.

The late leader of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, once said: “I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter’s gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” Arafat and others in the middle eastern region always knew that peace depended upon the willingness of all parties to work together to achieve common goals.

Last year, a new group was formed within the SNP, Friends for Peace in the Middle East. This reflected the concerns of a growing number of SNP members who feel that the polarisation and posturing of the past have achieved nothing, and it is only by bringing people together that true peace will ever become a reality. It is unequivocally not a partisan group, and actively supports the SNP’s stated policy of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

Last December the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2334. It criticised the actions of both Israelis and Palestinians, in settlement building and acts of terrorism respectively. Today the SNP Conference will discuss a motion ostensibly based upon that resolution. Sadly, however it displays none of the balance of the Security Council’s original text and instead, simply reprimands Israel. Posturing has always been easier than engaging and compromising, the business of negotiations and concessions is never easy. In the context of too many stalled Middle East peace efforts, this is particularly so.

Issuing one-sided denunciations, while tempting, is ultimately self-defeating. Such motions are counter-productive and don’t promote a balanced perspective or parity within our party, nor reflect the values of Scottish society as a whole. It is critically important that during this precarious time both in the Middle East, and indeed throughout the entire world, that all groups work together in a constructive manner to avoid extremist and divisive views and seek to find a moderate middle ground upon which efforts can be joined to promote peaceful solutions throughout the region.

Sadly, in Scotland today the debate over Israelis and Palestinians shows few signs of maturing. Polarised positions seem to be adopted instinctively, while barriers to dialogue and exchange seem as high as ever. We believe that only through dialogue and contact can peace ever flourish.

Defending and supporting one group at the expense of the other is an approach which is doomed to fail, since, demonstrably, peace can only come about with agreement on both sides. This means concession and negotiation, but above all engagement and interaction. Beyond that, Scotland need not take a position on the particulars of Palestinian or Israeli claims, nor demonise either side. Instead we must urge them to reach out to one another and genuinely seek a resolution to a conflict which has scarred their land and cost far too many lives.

It was Abba Eban, the former Israeli diplomat and foreign affairs minister, who observed that “history teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives”. Within the SNP and across Scottish society, we must continue to work together to ensure that we needn’t exhaust every alternative at the expense of lives and human suffering, but instead utilise our special position as a non-aligned nation capable of listening, urging and above all respecting both sides in the ongoing quest for a just and lasting peace between the people of Palestine and the people of Israel.

When it comes to Israel and Palestine, we should all be able to agree: polarisation hasn’t worked, we must now open doors and create space for understanding. There’s an old Jewish proverb : “It takes a little light to banish darkness – but a little darkness cannot turn out the light.”

Today in Aberdeen I hope the SNP Conference will send a clear signal to the entire Middle East that Scotland cares about the future of that promised yet blighted land and will do all it can to promote the peace and harmony it truly deserves, to the lasting benefit of all humanity.