She spoke with a soft Dublin accent. ‘I’m pleased that you could come, Mr President. I am only sorry that your Israeli counterpart has declined to join us.’
‘That is of no matter to me. What I have to say is for the ears of the world, not for him alone. Shall we go in?’
The party turned into a small procession, led by Deirdre O’Farrell, with Al-Saddi, McKnight and the Lord Provost following in that order. They threaded their way into the hall, where the other speakers were waiting.
As they did so, they were followed by a sudden press of students. Several of them by-passed the search in the few moments it took to regain control. Among them was a small swarthy man, older than the rest, with a three-day stubble emphasising the grimness of his marred face.
92
A place of honour had been reserved for Al-Saddi at the head of the ‘Government’ benches on the Speaker’s right hand. Mackie and Martin sat at the Clerk’s table. McGuire took up position at the main entrance door. Skinner faced the Speaker, beside a television camera. He looked around, trying to peer into the far reaches of the panelled Hall, but was dazzled by the television lights.
The debate opened in fine formality. The motion was proposed by Bernard Holland, a left-wing Labour Member of Parliament, whose fame leaned towards notoriety because of his support for a number of organisations, including the PLO, which, either openly or by reputation, were involved in terrorism. Holland knew the niceties of Parliamentary debate and his speech, powerful in its delivery, brought a sense of reality to the mock event.
He set out his stall from the start, declaring his support for the Palestinians, and challenging the Israelis. ‘They of all people, Madam Speaker, a nation landless for two thousand years, should understand the plight of the people of the State of Palestine, who for too long have been in the wilderness. There is room for all. Let them live together!’
Holland sat down to applause that was warm, but which stopped short of being thunderous. He was followed by another Parliamentarian, Sir Sidney Legge, MP, a veteran of thirty years at Westminster, and a leading member of the Board of Jewish Deputies. He was a small grey man, but he spoke with surprising power.
‘Madam Speaker, I regret most sincerely that I must urge this House to reject the motion. For once, the gentleman opposite is correct. We Jews appreciate more than any other the plight of the Palestinian people, and we wish them well in their efforts to find a permanent home. But the State of Israel will not be that home. Nor will we allow its security to be put at risk. For that is the real issue here tonight, Madam Speaker, and that is why that gentleman is among us.’
Dramatically, he thrust out his hand, pointing directly at Al-Saddi.
‘He is a sworn enemy of Israel. He comes here tonight not to argue the case for Palestine, but to sow, if he can, the seeds of the destruction of the Jewish State.’
The little man thundered on. ‘Since the nations of the world recognised Israel’s claim to its homeland over forty years ago, we Jews have been attacked on four occasions by people like him. Four times they have sought to take what is ours, and four times they have been taught painful lessons. It may be that, being bad students, our neighbours have forgotten the lesson yet once more. Let us hope not. But with people like that gentleman opposite,’ he glowered again at Al-Saddi, ‘in places of power in the Middle East, I fear that it is the case. Let us hope that tonight, he has come to listen, not to threaten. It would be as well for him.’
As Sir Sidney sat down, the audience, ringed around the participants in the debate rose in applause. Skinner looked across at Al-Saddi. He was impassive; only in the tightness of the mouth was there a hint of anger.
The exchanges boomed back and forth across the Chamber, not sustaining the weight of the opening salvos, but nevertheless holding the audience and maintaining a fine air of tension.
The case against the motion was summed up by Herbie Clay, a Los Angeles Jew who was one of the world’s leading comedians. He performed out of type. For once, no one rolled in the aisles when he spoke.
‘Madam Speaker, my parents left Europe for America because they had a simple choice. It was either to leave their homeland or be murdered by a regime which is not dissimilar in outlook to that of the gentleman opposite. Madam, I am sorry that I cannot keep to your Parliamentary tradition by using the word ’honourable’ to describe him.
‘Millions of my cousins, my brethren, did not have the chance which my parents had. They did not escape. They died. The State of Israel was founded by the survivors of the genocide. Others returning to lands from which they had been expelled by force, determined not to be driven out again.
‘Like my Right Honourable Friend, I sympathise with the people of Palestine. I hope they find a home, and soon. But not in my back yard. What about Syria, Mr President? At the rate at which your people have been disappearing since you came to power, you must have room for them Or what about Lebanon? If you don’t actually own it, at least you hold the lease, and at a peppercorn rent too. Why not sub-let a piece to the Palestinians?
‘Madam Speaker, as my Right Honourable Friend has said, the Palestinian homeland is not the real issue here. What we are discussing tonight is, as it always is, the existence of the State of Israel. And when the gentleman opposite rises to speak, I am sure that will become all too clear. Well, Madam Speaker, let those who threaten us never forget their mistakes of 1948, of 1967, of 1973, and of 1991, when the world stood by us. Next time the cost of such a foolish misjudgement might be much higher.’
For a second after Clay resumed his seat the audience sat silent, stunned by his unexpected grim eloquence. Then they burst into an ovation which continued until Deirdre O’Farrell called for order.
Finally, President Hassan Al-Saddi was invited to sum up for the motion. He stood up, bowed stiffly to the Chair, and at once his presence filled the room.
‘Madam Speaker, I am a blunt man. I do not have the glib tongue of these ladies and gentlemen opposite, who have dismissed the plight of my Palestinian brothers with their fine words. But I have come here tonight to listen to the bluster and threats of these Jews, and to face their insults, as a sign to the world that we people of the front line Arab states, whatever difficulties might arise between our individual nations, are no longer afraid, and that we have recovered our pride.
‘For too long, my predecessors in office have paid lip service to the plight of the brave Palestinian people. We have given them our support and little else. When they have become a nuisance in one place, like Lebanon, like Jordan, they have been moved on, like a herd of cattle. We have always put our own interests over theirs. I say that of Syria, my own nation. And, as I say it, I am ashamed of the rulers who went before me.
‘But now I say to the people of Palestine, have hope, for Al-Saddi is with you, and Syria is with you, to the death. And my brother in Iraq, whose cause I recognise tonight and to whom I pledge myself in Holy Alliance, although beset and under siege by the world, he joins me in this promise. Together we will win back for the Palestinian people that which was theirs. We have the right on our side. We know this, and we will defend our cause in any court in the world. Morally it is just. Legally it is sound. The finest lawyers have told us that this is so.’
Suddenly Al-Saddi brandished in the air a thick sheaf of papers, bound together at the top with an India tag. The hair at the back of Skinner’s neck began to tingle. Opposite, he saw Martin stiffen in his seat. Neither had to be told what those papers were.
‘Tonight, with the law at my back and in my hand, I put the Israelis on notice. This is the last chance that they will be given to return to the people of Palestine the land that was stolen from them.