PNN – These days, the name of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has once again been mentioned in the media after US President Donald Trump suggested him as a candidate to govern the Gaza Strip.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing Shahab News Agency, many politicians consider Tony Blair, the former British politician and Prime Minister, to be the face of evil in the Middle East; a negative figure who has done no good for the Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim people. His criminal and destructive role has been known for years, to the point where some have described him as “Brother Satan.” His name has returned to the headlines again these days after US President Donald Trump suggested Blair as his candidate to govern the Gaza Strip. Who is Tony Blair?
A British politician, he is the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1812. His prime ministerial years began in 1997 and he oversaw a series of reforms in the areas of health, education and public services, and strengthened the power of local governments. Blair is the only Labour Party leader to have served two consecutive terms, and has the second-longest tenure in more than 150 years.
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Tony Blair’s crimes in Iraq
He, alongside George W. Bush, decided to invade Iraq and has refused to apologize for it. Blair also played a central role in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. Blair is known, alongside the United States, as a key and direct figure in the 2003 invasion of Iraq under the guise of “disarmament of mass destruction.” This claim, later proven false by UN reports, showed that Iraq did not possess such weapons. This bloody war resulted in the deaths of more than 200,000 Iraqis and the capture, trial, and execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on December 30, 2006.
Blair was labeled a “war criminal” on the streets of London and other large and small cities in England during the historic million-strong demonstrations that saw the British people take to the streets to reject the invasion of Iraq, along with other demonstrations around the world.
The European Centre for Fundamental Rights and Human Rights called the “invasion of Iraq a crime” and focused its legal efforts on holding accountable those responsible for the torture and ill-treatment of Iraqi detainees by British forces. The centre noted that this could ultimately establish Blair’s criminal responsibility for the torture.
The Greek Bar Association also filed a formal complaint with the International Criminal Court in 2003, accusing Blair and his ministers of committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Iraq, based on violations of international conventions.
Blair’s relationship with Gaza
Blair’s name has been brought up again for his involvement in Palestinian affairs, as he served as special envoy to the Quartet of international peace negotiators between 2007 and 2015. However, his role in achieving peace failed, while the Israeli occupation and settlement policy, which violates international law, continued. Blair’s role was considered limited and closer to the positions of the Zionists and the West than to create a real balance between the two sides, which made him unpopular among large sections of Palestinians and Arabs.
Blair was invited to the White House on August 27 for a meeting with Donald Trump on Gaza. He is said to have the support of a number of the US president’s close associates, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Steve Whittaker, his current special envoy to the Middle East.
Tony Blair’s plan for governing Gaza
According to documents released in recent days, Blair’s plan for managing the Gaza Strip after the war proposes a multi-layered hierarchical structure, with senior international diplomats and businessmen at the top, and a board of directors with representation from Islamic countries to ensure legitimacy. The Palestinians running things on the ground will be at the lowest level, with no clear timetable for the Palestinian takeover of the Gaza Strip and no understanding of the Zionist occupiers’ relationship to the entire next phase.
Hamas’s position on Blair
Hossam Badran, a member of the political bureau of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, said that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is an undesirable figure in the Palestinian context, and noted that any plan related to this undesirable figure is ominous for the Palestinian people. Badran considered Tony Blair a negative figure who perhaps deserves to be tried in international courts for the crimes he has committed, especially his role in the war against Iraq.
Badran described the former British Prime Minister as “Brother Satan,” saying that he brought no good to the Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim cause, and that his criminal and destructive role has been known for years.
He emphasized that the management of Palestinian affairs in Gaza or the West Bank is an internal Palestinian issue that must be based on national consensus. No regional or international party has the right to impose its way of managing affairs on the Palestinian people. Pointing out that the Palestinian people are capable of managing themselves, he said: We have the ability and expertise that enables us to manage our affairs and relations with the region and the world.