BICOM

Prime Minister David Cameron addressed students in Qatar yesterday during his trip to several Middle East countries and said that leaders in the region use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a distraction to deflect criticism on their own regimes. “In too many countries in the Middle East, some rulers say to their people ‘be angry about that, don’t be angry about the fact that you live in a non-open society,” Cameron said.

The prime minister also explained Britain’s decision to support a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli West Bank settlements, despite US opposition. “Britain supported last week’s resolution in the UN Security Council because settlements are an obstacle to peace and we call today for a renewed effort to achieve long-term security for Israel and justice and statehood for the Palestinians.”

Cameron stressed that future aid to the region from the EU and UK must be conditioned on more political openness. “We have seen far too much money disappearing into a great big black hole. This is a wake-up call for the European Union to look at the aid that it gives. It’s not acceptable that this money has gone and no particular reform has happened in return,” Cameron said.