The Israel/Palestine conflict inflames both Muslim and Jewish extremist groups

On 30th June 2009 Ghaffar Hussain, Head of Quilliam Outreach and Training, was invited by The European – Atlantic Movement (TEAM) to give a speech at a Sixth Form Conference in Dauntsey School, Wiltshire. He shared the panel with Sir Harold Wilson (former UK Ambassador to Iraq, Ethopia, Bahrain and UAE), Yossi Mekelberg (Fellow Middle East Programme, Chatham House) and Leslie Tsou (First Secretary Political Section, Middle East, US Embassy, London).

The conference was entitled ‘Is solving the Israel/Palestine conflict the key to peace in the Middle East’. Ghaffar spoke about how the Israel/Palestine conflict inflames both Muslim and Jewish extremist groups around the world. He focused on the way in which the conflict is geo-theological and hence has become a rallying call for transnational movements like Islamism and Zionism that seek to politically unite their respective peoples. He also shed light on the plight of the Palestinians who are made to live in open air prisons in Gaza and the West Bank and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.