A chara, - The imbalance of power over more than 50 years of Arab-Israeli tensions is a major factor in the ongoing conflict. The allegiance of the US (magnified by the present election campaign there) and, to a lesser extent, that of Europe, must be of at least some comfort to Mr Barak and his compatriots as his well-equipped soldiers engage with rioting Palestinians.
The huge influence of American Jews on policy in that country is not balanced by any significant Arab counter-influence. It is hard not to suspect that this influence had at least some bearing on President Clinton's decision to pursue stability in the Middle East as his primary foreign policy goal over the two terms of his administration. The achieving of this objective was always going to be difficult with both sides having to make painful concessions, but it was impossible when one side was treated as slightly more fragile then the other.
The principal of consent, so centrally enshrined in Northern Ireland's peace process does not seem to apply to residents of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank or the Golan Heights. Calls by the American Secretary of State on Chairman Arafat to urge restraint must sound quite biased to the residents of these occupied territories. The Oslo Accord, now seemingly dead, was doomed from the outset on this point. The violent scenes we have witnessed in the Middle East in recent weeks are the inevitable result of Palestinian frustrations, fuelled by a sense of abandonment and isolation. - Is mise,
Gerard Meehan, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.