Sir, – Alan Shatter's proposal "How Ireland can help resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict" (Opinion & Analysis, May 24th) is hamstrung by his failure to acknowledge the key factor that undermines the viability of the two-state solution, to which he claims that there is "no viable alternative".
As UN special rapporteur Michael Lynk observes, the Israeli state’s illegal settlements “continue to devour the land that is meant for the independent Palestinian State”.
On this basis, the comparison between Northern Ireland and the Middle East, which lies at the core of Mr Shatter’s analysis, is a red herring.
It is true that state-sponsored population transfer programmes have influenced both regions, but the Ulster Plantation concluded centuries ago. The Israeli state’s colonisation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem continues apace, mandated in 2018’s Nation State Bill as “a national value” which the Israeli state “will labour to encourage and promote”.
Any credible analysis must acknowledge the Israeli state’s ongoing illegal settlement project.
Any credible international response must tackle it head-on. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN
Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4 .