Madam, - The British ambassador to Ireland, Stewart Eldon, claims that the London conference staged by UK prime minister Tony Blair "is designed to help kick-start Palestinian reform" (The Irish Times, February 28th).
Why is a parallel conference not being held to help kick-start Israeli reform? After all, it is the government of Israel, led by a man who has in the past been found guilty of "indirect responsibility" for war crimes, that illegally occupies Palestinian territories, illegally colonises those territories, is building a wall on those territories in defiance of the International Court of Justice, and since its so-called "truce" with the Palestinian Authority (consistently described by the media as "a period of relative calm") has killed at least 25 Palestinians including a number of children.
Given the UK government's experience of a shaky "peace process" in the North of Ireland, perhaps the Israeli government could be taught a few lessons in overcoming "the politics of the latest atrocity".
Look at its decision to punish the Palestinian Authority (more precisely, the Palestinian people) by freezing the transfer of security responsibility for illegally occupied West Bank cities in the wake of the Tel Aviv carnage - while simultaneously blaming that atrocity on the Syrians.
In reality the London conference is a further attempt by Tony Blair to administer US policy by pretending that the imperfections of Palestinian "governance", rather than the brutality of the illegal Israeli occupation, are responsible for ongoing violence in the Middle East. The Palestinian Authority should have maintained its initial stance of proud refusal to go along with this humiliating charade. - Yours, etc.,
RAYMOND DEANE, Chair, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Dublin 1.