As Tony Blair draws plaudits from all and sundry for his attempts to restart the Middle East 'peace process', Rachel Ehrenfeld provides a sharp dose of cold reality. After pointing out the unfortunate fact, ignored by the very same all and sundry, that Mahmoud Abbas may have presented a statemanlike face to the gullible west but to his own people has consistently called for the armed struggle to continue ( a fact seemingly alluded to by Blair in his comments about Palestinian terror having to end), Ehrenfeld raises another unfortunate fact about Blair's own government:

'With a well-established civilian/military infrastructure in the PA-administered territories, HAMAS has an annual budget is estimated at around $70 million, at least $20 million of which it receives from Interpal, the HAMAS front organization in the UK. Interpal not only raises funds for HAMAS in the UK, but also serves as the major courier of funds from other HAMAS-affiliated organizations in Europe to the West Bank and Gaza. Its activities are documented at length by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

'Why does the Blair administration allow a HAMAS front to openly operate in the UK? After all, following US pressure, the European Union as well as the UK have outlawed HAMAS as a terrorist organization and prohibited the collection of money to assist terrorist organizations for any purpose, including civilian. Is the electoral support of the anti-Israeli lobby that crucial to the Blair administration staying in power? In his attempts to hold on to power, Blair apparently fails to understand that HAMAS’ continued operations will eventually undermine any hope for a viable Palestinian state.

'President Bush has called on the free world to focus “on helping the Palestinians develop a state.” However, Mr. Blair’s negligence of stopping Interpal’s activities and the funding of HAMAS in the UK stand in striking contradiction to the President’s plea.'

It does indeed. When challenged over Interpal in the past, the British government has said that there is 'no evidence' to connect Interpal with terror, since it merely funds Hamas's social services. But as Ehrenfeld points out, Hamas is a terror organisation tout court. Even the EU has said so. So this sophistry just won't wash. The fact is that while Blair swans round the Middle East promoting 'peace', he is turning a blind eye to the terror factory in his own back yard.