GORDON HENDERSON MP

Its now a week since my return from Israel and I have had time to consider what I learned from our trip.

Politically it was an incredibly useful trip for me because I think it is important for aspiring MPs to have a good understanding of what is happening outside our borders.
 
If I am lucky enough to be elected, I and my colleagues will be called upon to try and help resolve some of the problems that make life a misery for so many people around the World.
 
For instance, one of the biggest challenges facing politicians in the West is how to resolve the current impasse in the Middle East. Many of the World's conflicts are rooted in the region, including the threat of terrorism that hangs over all our heads.
 
It will be easier to have an input now because my trip to Israel gave me an better insight into the mistrust and fear that is making peace so difficult to achieve in the region.
 
After all, understanding a problem is the first step towards working out a solution for that problem.

On a personal level I found the trip spiritually moving. In particular I will never forget my visits to the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Yad Vashem.

The Wailing Wall is deeply meaningful for Jewish people. I am not Jewish but having touched the wall and felt the immensity of history as I prayed for all those who had died in Jerusalem, whatever their religion, I can understand the power of this ancient place.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was equally as moving. This is where Christ was buried and as a Christian I felt overwhelmed as I sat and prayed in the very place that Jesus was laid to rest. My eyes fill with tears even now as a write.

I am not ashamed to admit that I cried too when I visited Yad Vashem. This is the World’s largest Holocaust memorial. It is a deeply harrowing experiences walking from chamber to chamber in the stark building listening to the sounds of persecution and seeing photographic evidence of that persecution.

Today we hear that Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has repeated his assertion that the Holocaust was a “predicted lie”. This stupid man should be forced to visit Yad Vashem and see for himself some of the atrocities committed not only against Jews, but gays, gypsies, the mentally ill and anybody else the Nazis considered a threat to the Aryan race..

Is it any wonder that Israel fears for its future when it faces opponents such at Iran?

Finally, I am immensely grateful to the Conservative Friends of Israel who organised and funded this trip. To those cynics amongst readers of this blog... not a penny came from the taxpayers!