"The very last people in a position to say anything to bring a resolution between Hamas and Fatah are Israel and its allies, which have so transparently set out to destroy the government elected by the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
"They have fomented the divisions that erupted in Gaza this week, propping up the discredited presidency of Mahmoud Abbas, while, at the same time, refusing for so long to recognise the elected Hamas administration. It was a policy designed to tear apart Palestinian society and it has been ruthlessly conducted over the last three months following the Mecca agreement and formation of a government of national unity.
"Friends of the Palestinians here have a duty to expose the crocodile tears shed by British government ministers over what is happening in Gaza.
"If they truly wanted to do something dramatic to end the bloodshed in Gaza, they would demand that Israel free Marwan Barghouti, a figure with the stature to appeal successfully for unity. They would certainly stop hiding behind the discredited rump of Abbas, whom they have encouraged to be perceived as their cat's paw.
"While supporting all moves towards unity by the legitimate forces of Palestinian society, friends of Palestine here should do something else. We should recognise the intimate connections between the struggle in Palestine and the struggle against imperialism and exploitation across the Middle East.
"It means that every advance for the national resistance in Iraq or for the mass movement in Egypt against the US-backed dictator Mubarak is also an advance for the Palestinians.
"We need to do what we can here to assist those struggles. As part of that, everyone who cares about Palestine should be in Manchester next Sunday June 24 to join the Stop the War protest outside Gordon Brown's coronation as Labour leader.
"The fall of Blair creates a window for forcing a change in foreign policy. Only a fool would imagine that's easily achieved - only one who had succumbed to despair would imagine that it's impossible.
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