Gaza attacks - North can be a lesson

What has happened on this island is a stark reminder of the futility of violence.

After more than two decades of strife the two sides finally began talking. With the help of outside parties, a peace was brokered.

If this had been done in the late 1960s, thousands of lives would have been saved and enormous human misery would have been avoided. A small group provoked a huge backlash that was out of proportion with the initial attack. The ultimate consequence was the polarisation of the whole community. The militants essentially took charge.