It’s time to say farewell to Tony Blair as envoy for the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators. The quartet represents the United Nations, the European Union, the USA and Russia. It was George Bush’s idea to appoint him as peace envoy, perhaps to pay him in kind for his all-out support in 2003 Iraq war, ignoring wide-spread opposition to a war which ultimately opened the Pandora’s Box of IS and other terrorist outfits in the region.
I don’t know how the capitals and streets in the Middle East shall say farewell to him — may ask for his reappointment while appreciating his relentless efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians on a negotiating table, forcing Israel to freeze the construction activities in occupied territories, letting Gaza siege to be lifted, or getting lucrative consultancy-cum-business contracts for his ‘Tony Blair Faith Foundation’ and ‘Tony Blair Associates’, or standing with Israel during successive wars in Gaza and never-ending settlements issue.
It’s strange that the quartet tolerated his bankrupt peace initiatives for that long, or perhaps that was in everyone’s interest to let a known personality keep showing off doing something in the name of peace. Perhaps it’s time to say goodbye to someone who never hid his bias towards Palestinians and that was the main reason he was always welcome by Israelis. If the quartet is really serious about its peace initiatives, if there are any, they shall look for someone with long-term peace in the Middle East on his/her mind, not the long-term consultancy and advisory roles for his/her firms or advancing business interests of his/her paymasters.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
