Director of the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) Daud Abdullah told IRNA that people of the region are able to administer themselves if foreign powers stop meddling in their affairs. He advised the nations of the Middle East to get rid of foreign influence.
Following is the full text of the interview with Daud Abdullah:
Q. What is UKs position on Palestine and Israel?
When we discuss Palestinian question in the UK, we have to look at it from two angles; One is at the official level, and the other at the popular level.
On the official level there is no doubt that our government for years have been formally behind the state of Israel and its policies at every forum at the international stage, whether its the United Nations or elsewhere. However on a popular level the support for Israel has diminished and continues to be diminishing as years go by.
In the past Israel enjoyed automatic supports from Europeans as a whole and Britain as well; [but] this is no longer the case; People realise they know what Israel is about and they dont give automatic support; Specially in the light of its violations of Human rights.
Q. Is there a secret deal between Hamas and Israel?
A. There is no secret deal; This has been refuted categorically by senior Hamas officials. In fact Tony Blair invited Khalid Mashal to come to London to conclude the discussions and the discussions is not about the peace process that Blair has been involved in with Mahmaood Abbas; It's about the siege of Gaza, It's about ending the siege and opening up the borders so that the people of Gaza can enjoy free movement; Thats what the talks is about.
Israel no doubt will have its own demands; It wants truth so that it would not be attacked; But it cannot have assurance of peace if it continues to be the aggressor.
If at any time it commits of an aggression against the people of Gaza then it must expect a response from the resistance; But at the moment there is no deal, nothing has been done, and the negotiations are still on the way.
Q. When will Khalid Mashal come to London?
He will not come at the moment; This is a decision taken by the political bureaus; the time is not right for him to come to London; [However] he has been invited to London by Tony Blair.
Q. What is your opinion about the complexity in the Middle East?
A. The Middle East is no doubt is experiencing an unprecedented turmoil, after the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan; States are collapsing one after the other. The rule of Law no longer exists in many places whether we speak of Iraq, Yemen, Syria or Libya. It is a consequence of foreign intervention into the region. But also a consequence of a disunity and collaboration with the West in many instances.
I think that the way forward to end the Chaos is to first of all respect the views of the people of the region. The people of the region rose in 2012 because they wanted democracy; They wanted a system to end dictatorship in the region, they wanted to get hold of their own destiny, but of their governments didnt want this, and this is part of the problem.
Q. Do you think that the instability is the consequence of invasion of Iraq?
Terrorism or extremism in the region is partly a consequence of foreign intervension. But in the other level, it is also a consequence of the denial of the will of the people of the region. When you have dictatorship in Tunisia, when you have a dictatorship in Egypt that refuses to respect the will of the Egyptians, when they go to the polls and they vote a president and the military imprisons him and sentence him to death, then you must have extremism.
Q. How could extremism be tackled?
A. Respect the will of the people and to minimise the involvement of foreigners in the internal domestic affairs of the people of the region.
The people of the region are well capable of administrating themselves; Like those in Latin America; This is what the conference is about: How to assert your independence.
This is a problem in the Middle East. They have lost independence; These countries in Latin America are very close to Washington, and yet they have been able to break away from the dominance of Washington. We want our people in the Middle East to break away in the similar way so that they will no longer be held under the jackboot of American imperialism.
Q. What is your opinion about the Vienna deal between Iran and the P5+1?
I think first of all Iran has the right to pursue a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes and it should be respected and I think that Iran has succeeded in getting most of what it wanted from years of negotiations and thanks to its diplomats that after ten years managing to secure the right of continues with a nuclear programme. There is no evidence that the programme is a programme for creation of weapons of mass destruction but they are entitled to it.
Daud A. Abdullah is a former Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain
He is also director Middle East Monitor, a news website, and setup the British Muslim Initiative
By IRNA
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