‘We find people in Israel and Palestine courageous enough to say – enough’

Israeli and Palestinian voices have refused to rule out the prospect of a peace process eventually leading to a two-state solution during a frank and often intense debate at an event put on at Labour conference by the Labour Friends of Israel group.

Sunday’s panel event took place without disruption in front of a capacity audience, including senior officials with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, at one of the side meeting rooms inside the Liverpool venue.

Pro-Palestine activists aligned with far-left organisations had staged demos outside the arena since delegates began to arrive on Saturday, but many held aloft the banners of the Socialist Workers Party rather than those of Labour.

On the panel, which was chaired by Labour MP Damien Egan, were Nivine Sandouka, a Palestinian peace campaigner and regional director of the AllMEP group, Middle East minister Hamish Falconer, Michael Stephens, a senior policy adviser with the Royal United Services Institute, and Jonathan Cummings, an aide to Yair Golan, the leader of Israel’s Democrats party.

Sandouka implored the international community to put in more effort to empower moderate Palestinian voices, including in the Palestinian Authority, saying:”We want to live a normal life.

“We are sick of this situation; we want a normal life.”

She added:”We find people in Israel and Palestine courageous enough to stand up and say ‘Enough’.

“We know what it takes to bring sustainable peace from the grassroots level — a transformative role for civil society.”

But she warned: “I’m a Palestinian, and I see my people, and also the Israelis, going more towards extremism and more towards radicalisation with the continuation of the conflict and the continuation of the war.

“The moment there is a political horizon, the moment there is economic stability, there is better education for peace, there are changed narratives, together with, or parallel with, a regional approach of investment and openness, and a better future. That’s when people are going to immediately refuse extremism.”

Stevens noted: “It is encouraging for the first time we have a 21-step plan backed by the USA.

“The US is the biggest player in the room. If they don’t back a plan, it won’t happen – I do not believe that the Abraham Accords are dead in the water.”

Minister Falconer said: “The extent of scarring that an event of this length and severity has on Israelis and Palestinians alike.

“The news recently has been more promising, and there have been some signs of momentum towards serious negotiations.”

“To have a permanent ceasefire, you have to address the question of who is going to be in charge of Gaza.

“If you want someone in charge of Gaza, you want Palestinians in charge of Gaza: moderate Palestinians who recognise Israel’s right to exist.

“The only entity capable of meeting these criteria is the Palestinian Authority. It’s flawed, but there’s no alternative around this.”

He added: “Hamas are no friends to the region. There is a window to get rid of them – but we have to focus on the challenges that disarmament represents, while the region has a consensus on it.”

Cummins added: “The path to go down is to work with a legitimate, capable Palestinian Authority […] PA reform and Palestinian elections are so important.

“In the end, Palestinians will have to decide for themselves.”

“The heavy lifting will have to be done by Israelis and Palestinians – that will require rebuilding support for the kind of moves we will have to take to find agreements and mechanisms that work.

“Only by building a new Israeli government that has a mandate to embark on this difficult process can we get out of this.”

“Israel is a deeply risk-averse country after 7/10 — but there’s a silent majority who are amenable to rebuilding support for taking difficult steps along the way to peace “

“Since I’m at Labour Party conference, I’ll say: things can only get better.” “A war that goes on for too long, and which isn’t followed up by diplomatic space, is a war that loses legitimacy.”

Falconer also spoke of the decision to reapply snapback sanctions on Iran.

“The Israelis, and others in the region like the Saudis, are right to worry about Iran’s nuclear programme,” he said. “There was an onus for diplomacy which the Iranians didn’t pursue. Now they find themselves facing sanctions.”