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| Image Source: Al-Jazeera |
The former
prime minister has described Gaza as a 'prison camp' and advocated a two-state
solution, but is also a staunch supporter of Israel.
The unexpected return of former British Prime Minister David Cameron to British politics amid Israel's war in Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests in the UK have raised questions about the implications of UK policies towards the Middle East.
Cameron, now foreign secretary, has previously called the Gaza Strip a "prison camp" and advocated a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but has also been a staunch supporter of Israel.
On October 9, as
Israel announced a "total" blockade of Gaza and launched an attack on
the enclave in response to a surprise attack by the armed Palestinian group
Hamas two days earlier, the 57-year-old announced his support for the Jewish
state. announced.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in London over the weekend in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza as a smaller number of far-right groups staged counter-demonstrations.
Prime Minister Rishi Singh fired Home Secretary Suella Broerman on Monday after she lashed out at police for being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters and making comments he described as "inflammatory".
He replaced
Braverman with Foreign Secretary James Cleverley before announcing Cameron as
Cleverley's surprise replacement.
Ben Witham,
professor of international relations at the London School of Oriental and African
Studies (SOAS), said that while Cameron was expected to take a "more
conciliatory tone", he would not side with the Palestinians in the
conflict.
"Certainly,
like any senior Conservative politician, he is broadly supportive of Israel and
its alleged right of aggression in Gaza," he told Al Jazeera.
Whitham said Cameron's appointment was also aimed at "healing some of the differences within the Conservative Party".
"It's seen
as a strong relationship with strategic economic partners in the Middle East,"
including an ongoing personal relationship with Saudi Arabia's leadership,
Whitman said.
'Prison Camp'
During his tenure as prime minister from 2010 to 2016, Cameron criticized Israel's "illegal" settlements in the occupied West Bank and its blockade of the Gaza Strip. "Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison," he said during a visit to Turkey in 2010.
However, as
Palestinians in Gaza benefited from a temporary cease-fire that temporarily
halted one of the deadliest bombings in the enclave in 2014, his party called
for coalition members to re-examine arms export licenses to Israel. rejected
the demands of, should fighting resume.
The Israeli
newspaper Haaretz cited the incident as saying that Cameron was the most
pro-Israel British prime minister ever, hailing "passionate"
supporters and "unabashed admirers of the Zionist endeavour" such as
Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Stripped, Margaret Thatcher and Harold Wilson.
"In many
ways, he sees the Middle East like Netanyahu," Haaretz said, referring to
current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who serves from 2009 to 2021. Since
last month, Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected a cease-fire in Gaza and vowed to
"wipe Hamas from the face of the earth" in an air and ground
offensive that has killed more than 11,200 Palestinians.
During the 50
days of hostilities that lasted from July 8 to August 26, 2014, 2,251
Palestinians were martyred. Saeeda Warsi, a senior UK Foreign Office minister
and Britain's first Muslim to serve in the Cabinet, resigned after the end of
the ceasefire, citing a "morally indefensible" stance on the dispute
over the Cameron government.
Warsi cited early evidence from the Home Office at the time that the government's response to the events in Gaza was one of the factors behind the radicalization of British Muslims, which could have repercussions for years to come.
Nevertheless,
the member of the House of Lords appeared to have buried the hatchet when he
welcomed Cameron on Monday. "If ever there was a time for balanced,
thoughtful, compassionate leadership, now is it. Your country needs you,"
Warsi said on X.
According to
Whitham, the former prime minister's personal relationship with Saudi Arabia
has played a decisive role in his political recovery. Cameron was among a
handful of leaders, including former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and
former US presidential senior adviser Jared Kushner, to travel to Saudi Arabia
for the 2019 Davos in the Desert summit.
"We have [a pillar] of British foreign policy in the Middle East which is going to be increasingly important in the post-Brexit context, which means that these foreign strategic allies outside of Europe, like Saudi Arabia, are really important. are," Whitham said. .
"Maintaining
good relations with these partners is above all else," he added. "And
Cameron is seen as a continuation candidate in that regard."
Military intervention in the Middle East
Cameron has been a proponent of using Britain's "military capability" to defeat what it considers "terrorist" groups in the Middle East. In 2014, as ISIS sought to establish a "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, he warned that if ISIS succeeded in its aims, the West would become an "extremist" on its Mediterranean borders. The state will have to face.
His government
agreed to increase airstrikes from Iraq into Syria, where he voted in favor of
the attack when it was tabled in the British Parliament in March 2003.
"Perhaps
the most controversial foreign policy decision of Cameron's tenure as prime
minister was the decision to use extrajudicial killings in Syria, which
inaugurated a program of drone strikes that continues to this day,"
Whitham said.
Since his resignation in 2016 following Britain's failed bid to stay in the European Union, Cameron's Middle East policy has come under scrutiny and has had a lasting impact on the region.
When Britain
and France intervened in Libya in 2011, Cameroon's government said the
operation was aimed at rescuing civilians under fire from longtime leader
Muammar Gaddafi. But the Foreign Affairs Committee later analyzed the decision
and found it relied on poor intelligence and hastened the political and
economic collapse of the North African country.
The parliamentary report concluded that Cameron had a "decisive" role in the decision to intervene and that he should take responsibility for Britain's role in the Libyan crisis.
Like former US President Barack Obama, Cameron opened the door to the use of lethal force in parts of the Middle East, Whitham said. "Cameron has shown that it is quite willing to intervene militarily in the region," he said.
"I don't
want to speculate on whether they will join the chorus of pro-Israeli voices
and possibly frame Hamas as an extension of ISIS. will have to toe that line.
(Courtesy: Al-Jazeera)
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