海角大神

European political expression on matters Israel-Palestine is vastly different in scope and content than here in the US, certainly compared to what one hears when listening to members of Congress or to American TV.

That was palpably true when I was based in Europe during the 2008-2009 Israeli聽 "Operation Cast Lead" in Gaza. I reported on the often high-voltage reactions from Paris, London and Berlin.

But one forgets how differently Europe views the conflict after a little while back home.

Now back from Paris, I was caught out this week by a Youtube video of a British parliamentary debate.聽It captures brief speeches on the current Gaza strike by Israel, "Operation Protective Edge," from MPs who obviously aren't in favor of the operation.

Yet the focus by both Conservative and Labour MPS was striking simply because one rarely hears anything similar stateside. Here are well-spoken, well-dressed people articulating points, some of them moral -- as well as a point of view -- rarely heard from their US political counterparts.

"...unless the Israelis are willing to make peace, the day will come when the Palestinians will explode in anger and despair," says Sir Gerald Kaufman who represents Manchester Gordon.聽

Sir Nicolas Soames of Mid Sussex asks, "Would my right honorable friend agree that this is not just a war about rockets from both sides but it is actually a war about illegal settlements and stolen lands?"聽

The British MPs seem more frank and less filtered and certainly less one-sided than those across the Atlantic. 聽

Whether one agrees with their views or not, there鈥檚 more focus on issues like 鈥渄isproportionate response,鈥� humanitarian law, UN safe zones, water and sewer damage, and possible war crimes in Gaza.

There鈥檚 鈥渘o truck,鈥� as former British foreign secretary Jack Straw puts it, with terror or Hamas (see below). But there is less willingness by the Brits to take at face value the specter of Hamas as a rationale for any and all behavior by Tel Aviv.

A friend who closely follows the Middle East writes above the Youtube link, 鈥淏ritish MPs tell is like it is.鈥� Maybe. What seems refreshing is the freer expression of views on significant matters of war and peace.

The origin and evolution of US discourse on the Middle East could fill libraries. Some decades ago there was arguably a more sympathetic and balanced approach to the Middle East among, for example, mainstream Protestants. An echo of that voice was heard recently as American Methodists divested their holdings in a firm that sells equipment to Israeli prisons. But since the rise of American evangelicalism and fundamentalism in the 1980s, and its political expression and fusing with pro-Israel lobby groups, there鈥檚 clearly been a broad shift towards the state of Israel and a diminution of the old balance.

A new study by Zogby to be released July 29 finds that Americans in general are less trustful of Arabs and Muslims who take part in local government 鈥� but that Americans who know Arabs or Muslims have a 鈥渟ignificantly higher favorable attitude鈥� toward them.

Below, text from some of the House of Commons statements:聽

Sir Nicolas Soames, Conservative, Mid Sussex

Jack Straw, Labour Blackburn [former Foreign Secretary]

Ben Bradshaw Labour, Exeter

Martin Horwood Liberal Democrat, Cheltenham

Julian Brazier Conservative, Canterbury

Richard Burden Labour, Birmingham Northfield

Rushanara Ali, Labour, Bethnal Green and Bow

Sir Gerald Kaufman, Labour, Manchester Gorton

(Robert Marquand is former Paris bureau chief for the 海角大神 Science Monitor and is now the Africa editor on the foreign desk).