Middle East

Lord Boateng Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I do not know why Sudan does not get the attention that it should. It is a problem. Perhaps it has to do with media access and presence in that region, or perhaps there are other reasons. I do not know, but I regret it and wish we could spend more time considering Sudan. We held a conference earlier this year with the desire to see progress there. It is incredibly difficult, but we are doing everything we can and I thank the noble Lord for making that point.

People are rightly concerned about what they see. It feels very close to home. There are many people in this country who have family connections to Israel and to Gaza specifically, and I do not in any way ascribe any kind of other motive to those raising these concerns. I note the concern in the noble Lord’s question about antisemitism here in the UK. It is possible, and it is our responsibility, to show that we can have concerns and that we can criticise and be appalled by some of the actions of the Government of Israel, but vehemently protect, in the strongest possible terms, the necessity of Israel—an ally of ours—to succeed, to be safe and to be a prosperous country long into the future. That is what we want to see.

I regret that, too often in this debate, you are forced to pick a side. You either believe in the viability of Israel or in the Palestinian cause. I do not feel like that. If you say you support a two-state solution, you have to mean it. That is, two states living safely, securely and prosperously, side by side.

[Lord Boateng (Lab)]

My Lords, there is a reason Sudan is not mentioned as much and the horrors taking place there are not given the attention they deserve. It is because Sudan is in Africa—that is why—and Africa is not seen as having the same strategic importance as the Middle East.

However, Africa—southern Africa in particular—can teach us one very important thing. At the height of the struggle in southern Africa, when white people and black people seemed to be at loggerheads in a way that would never be resolved, there was active promotion by successive British Governments of dialogue between all the communities in southern Africa. What more action can His Majesty’s Government take to promote dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims in that region, and between Palestinians and Israelis? It must be possible to be both a friend of Israel and a friend of Palestine.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I think it is. I was in South Africa in 1994, just before the elections. I remember that time of huge optimism but also of great fear in certain parts of the population. I recognise completely what my noble friend says. Sometimes, we look back and forget just how desperate things got in South Africa at various points and the things that were done.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to feel that sense of optimism now, either about Sudan or the situation in Gaza. I fear that there is a Government who are deliberately acting in a way that they know is leading to enormous suffering and death in Gaza. This can be prevented very quickly. If dialogue is needed, dialogue is what we should have. It would be very good to move forward in a way that takes us to a place where there is a process and a structure to negotiations, and where the UK—or any country that is able to—is able to bring parties together. Perhaps that means our friends in the region; it does not have to be some of the usual partners who lead this, but dialogue is the only way, ultimately, that this will be resolved. The problem today is one of desperate need and starvation in that population.