Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I have been to Israel as well. I will outline a little of the history. After the 1967 war Israel offered a deal of land for peace. That was turned down and the Arab summit held in Khartoum immediately afterwards arrived at its triple negative resolution — no negotiations, no recognition and no peace. That is the line Hamas and Fatah have taken over the years. Achieving peace in Northern Ireland has not been easy but at least we sought a way of reconciliation in some form or other, rather than insisting everything must be totally black or white. Hopefully, from 8 May there will be peace in Northern Ireland.

However, there is no sign of that peace arriving in the Middle East, particularly for Israel, in the Hamas attitude. It continues to hold the three negatives of no negotiations, no recognition and no peace. Its twin objectives are the end of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic republic from Jordan to the Mediterranean. I believe there must be a balance on this issue. It is not easy to solve the problem of the Middle East but we must attempt to get that balance. The objective of countries such as Iran, who say they want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth, is similar to that of Fatah and Hamas. There must be balance and I am not sure that Irish agencies and Government representatives seek that balance strongly enough. It appears that we are continually afraid to criticise the Arab viewpoint, particularly the viewpoint so strongly voiced in that area.

Look at what happened in the case of Egypt. When Egypt bravely decided to recognise Israel, the Israelis left the Sinai and even abandoned a town they had built there. Since then there has been peace on that 166 mile border. Jordan, too, decided to recognise Israel and abandoned claims to the West Bank. There has been peace along that 149 mile border as well. However, what happened when Israel decided to leave Gaza last year? As soon as it left, those who took over, Hamas and Fatah, poured bombs and rockets into Israel. When Israel left Lebanon, and that was a difficult time——