SIGNS of life in the peace process - so read the heading on a recent editorial in The Independent, the English paper owned by Tony O’Reilly which is in the process of falling into Russian hands.
Here now is what the opening paragraph had to say about that same peace process: "The Middle East peace process is a peculiar beast. It lumbers along, mostly at a snail’s pace, at times juddering to a halt and even sliding into reverse. Many doubt its viability. Some feel it has outlived its time; still others treat it as mythical. Yet every now and again it defies all the doom watchers to evince real signs of life. This is one of those times."
After all that it is time to do an appraisal of the situation there and to compare the situations in the North of Ireland and the Middle East.
The conflict in the Middle East continues unabated. You would think that by now those in charge there would have seen the happiness the peace has engendered in Northern Ireland and make every effort to obtain same in their own countries.
And one man, Senator George Mitchell, who helped bring about peace here in Ireland, is right there to hope-fully repeat the performance and steer them towards peace.
Who would ever think that Ian Paisley would blossom forth from agitator to statesman? That he did. He saw the light along the way. He went directly from his message being hate - to quote The Times in an editorial at the time - to being one of love.
The Jews and Palestinians must be slow on the uptake - to say the least - when it doesn’t seem to have hit either side yet, the peace and tranquillity that has come over this island of ours since an end came to the shootings and killings that had plagued us for so long.
Look at the feel the Scottish poet James Thompson (1834-1882) gives to this peace: O beauteous Peace, Sweet union of a state! What else but thou Gives safety, strength, and glory to a people!
I bow, lord constable, beneath the snow Of many years; yet in my breast revives A youthful flame. Methinks I see again Those gentle days renew’d that bless’d our isle, Ere by this fury of division.
Now I’m after seeing a hopeful sign on the horizon and it is in an article headed ‘From Ireland to Israel’ in a recent issue of The International Herald Tribune. The author of the article is none other than Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, who tells the reader that the peace in Northern Ireland has lessons that Israelis and Arabs should study. Here are some extracts to browse over at your leisure.
During a recent trip to Northern Ireland, the ambassador said one theme that dominated all conversations was encapsulated in the words "Who would have believed...?"
He said it was the happiness shared by those present that the unimaginable had happened and he noted that the conflict that had once made the province a byword for terrorism and sectarian violence had ended.
In Ireland, he pointed out, a key lesson is that the essential interest of each side must be respected and safeguarded. The Unionist community in Northern Ireland won the principle of consent, which established that it could not be incorporated in a united Ireland against its will. Nationalists were guaranteed full civil and political rights as a minority along with full access to Irish citizenship, while the power-sharing arrangements offer them full participation in the government of the province.
There must be a repeat performance in the Middle East.
For Israel, the vital interest is its recognition by Palestinians as the nation-state of the Jewish people, existing with adequate security arrangements alongside a demilitarized Palestinian state. For Palestinians, the vital interest is independence and freedom within their own state, the ambassador said.
Hate must go out the window as he points out has happened in Northern Ireland, he added.
"Both Irish communities learned to their cost over 80 years the futility of nurturing hateful stereotypes of one another. One of the recognized foundation stones of the Northern Ireland peace process was the need to strive for parity of esteem and end the animosity between the two communities," Mr Evrony said, adding that it must be the same again for the Arabs and the Jews.
Similarly, true reconciliation cannot be achieved between Israelis and Palestinians as long as incitement to hatred toward Israel continues amongst the Palestinians.
And the ambassador continued his very interesting appraisal as follows:
"As WB Yeats wrote, Peace comes dropping slow. There is no doubt that we must be patient, avoid setting unrealistic deadlines and above all, keep in mind that peace, no matter how difficult to achieve and imperfect, is better than perpetual conflict."
And I will conclude this hopeful plea for peace on that land Our Lord roamed on while on earth with another lovely poem on the delight of peace by the same author as the previous one, the Scottish Poet James Thompson: ‘Fair Peace! How lovely, how delightful thou!
By whose wide tie the kindred sons of men Like brothers live, in amity combined, And unsuspicious faith; while honest toil Gives every joy, and to those joys a right, Which idle, barbarous rapine but usurps.
Beneath thy calm inspiring influence, Science his views enlarges, Art refines, And swelling Commerce opens all her ports. Bless’d be the man divine who gives us thee!
There are still a few gremlins in the works out there, hopefully, peace is on the way.
