The crushing of an entire people
Amnesty International's many reports on human rights violations by both sides are impartial, and the closest you will get to an accepted neutral analysis.
But the killings and mutilations inflicted by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) or Palestinian armed groups are really only the tip of the problem, even if the most brutal manifestation.
The bigger picture is one of the slow suffocation of an entire people and culture where homes, livelihoods and schools are wiped out by massive military strength; where every new illegal Israeli settlement pushes back further any possibility of resolution; where a democratically elected government insists on continuously flouting international law; where curfews are imposed without warning and you can be trapped for days or weeks, separated from your family.
It is no surprise when you report that Palestinian civilians living in places like Rafah or Jenin refugee camps say they may as well die, that their lives are not worth living. And then the tanks and gunships return to hammer home the point. These people are crushed.
Yes, it is true that the Palestinians have no constructive political leadership and that at least some of the armed groups all of whom are responsible for appalling atrocities against civilians are closely linked to Mr Arafat's organisation.
And it is also true that Israeli Jews (indeed all Jews) have good historical reasons not to trust in anyone, and that anti-semitism is indeed alive and active. But wiser counsel would show that the policies of the Israeli government are not alone illegal, disproportionate and immoral... they are also very short-term based. One shudders to think of a scenario in which the USA no longer holds its current power as Israel's guarantor.
Some correspondents to your paper ask about the absence of solidarity from so many Arab states with the Palestinians, and generally stray rapidly into juxtapositions of dictatorial, oppressive, fanatical Arab regimes against democratic Israel.
Many of the Arab states of the Middle East are as much satellites of the USA as Israel is. And most of these Arab regimes have no real inclination to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
Also, the representation of the Palestinians on TV as fanatical, crazy Arabs who spend their time firing guns in the air is a very selective misrepresentation, more often than not filmed straight after some IDF atrocity when emotions are at their most volatile, and militants at their most potent.
What society would reflect well under these circumstances? Ordinary Palestinians are no different from ordinary Israelis or ordinary Irish people. They want to get on with their lives, their families, their work, their schooling.
The EU has been a very disappointingly ineffective player in resolving this conflict, but the Government in particular Foreign Minister Brian Cowen and his department is to be praised for its ongoing diplomatic commitment to secure a resolution of the conflict.
Sean Love,
Executive Director,
Amnesty International (Irish Section),
48, Fleet Street,
Dublin 2.
