The peacemakers continue their efforts in spite of a succession of unhelpful developments on the ground, writes Deaglán de Bréadún.
Just as Europe was the seething cauldron of war and revolution in the last century, so the Middle East is shaping up as the equivalent in the 21st. The parallels are compelling: ethnic and territorial disputes, weak governments losing more and more power to the streets, a military build-up involving new and more powerful weapons, and fanatical ideologies that hold increasing sway over millions of minds.
Europe is at peace now and, in many ways, the envy of the world, but its problems in the last century were only sorted out after a massively destructive war. Only the most demented ideologues would wish this kind of shock therapy on the Middle East, and for that reason the peacemakers continue their efforts in spite of a constant succession of unhelpful developments on the ground.
Ireland is firmly in the peace camp, of course, and supports the efforts of the European Union and the United Nations to promote dialogue and reconciliation. In that spirit, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern toured the Middle East last week, meeting government and political leaders. Normality and stability are strangers to the Middle East but the region is going through a particularly unsettled period.
Events in Israeli politics recall Charles Haughey's famous phrase, "grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented", or GUBU for short. Just before Ahern was due to meet his Israeli counterpart, Ms Tzipi Livni, the shock news broke that her colleague, former justice minister Haim Ramon had been indicted for stealing an unsolicited kiss from one of his female subordinates and was facing a possible three-year jail sentence.
Meanwhile, Israeli president Moshe Katsav has stepped aside to deal with very serious allegations of rape, and prime minister Ehud Olmert is being investigated for allegedly corrupt financial and property dealings in Jerusalem, allegations that he has flatly denied.
But despite the fact that the Israeli political system had other things on its mind, Ahern's visit drew some coverage in the Jerusalem Post, which reported that the Irish-Israeli relationship "can best be described as cool".
The paper added that "Israel's relations with Ireland are widely considered in Jerusalem as among the worst Israel has with any European country, and Ireland is roughly clumped together in Jerusalem with the Scandinavian countries in the EU as being among the most critical of Israel."
This set an unpromising backdrop for the Ahern-Livni encounter, but a member of the Irish delegation said afterwards it was "quite a warm meeting". Ms Livni was described as "very professional" and, as is the custom with Israelis, "very direct". Both sides were agreed on the need to strengthen the position of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, although there was "very little give" from the Israeli side when Ahern conveyed the EU's anxiety about the scope of the Israeli settlement programme on the West Bank, which many see as undermining the viability of a proposed Palestinian state.
The Israeli foreign minister expressed surprise that trade between the two countries had fallen, although this state of affairs was disputed by the Irish delegation. It is understood that Israel is also dissatisfied with the low level of "people-to-people" contact between the two countries. During their Israeli stopovers, Irish ministers always make sure to meet Palestinian leaders and this has contributed to generating a fair amount of tension with the Israelis over the years, leading an Irish diplomat to remark on one occasion: "It's the only place in the world where we are more unpopular than the Brits."
It has to be said that the Israelis don't do themselves any favours. High-profile Israeli politicians rarely visit Ireland to present their case to the public because, a former Israeli ambassador explained, oppressive pro-Palestinian demonstrations would spoil the trip. "You have a lot of do-gooders in Ireland," he said. In the battle for Irish public opinion, Israel has given the Palestinians a walkover.
A visit to Gaza was planned as part of Ahern's tour, but this was called off because of the security situation; in the days preceding his arrival at Tel Aviv airport, some 30 Palestinians were killed in gun battles between opposing factions. However, Ahern did make it to Bethlehem to meet Palestinian officials and, later in the day, to Ramallah for talks with president Mahmoud Abbas, who had just returned from the African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
President Abbas has installed himself at the Muqata, formerly the residence and administrative centre of his predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat. The last time this reporter visited the Muqata, Arafat was still alive and the compound still bore the many hallmarks of the siege mounted on the place by Israeli forces.
Now the Muqata is cleaned up and has been given a lick of paint. There is a businesslike air about the place and the sense of drama and foreboding that characterised Arafat's final months is missing.
Despite the gun-play between Fatah and Hamas, president Abbas told Ahern he was optimistic a ceasefire could be concluded between the warring factions and he was very upbeat about the prospects that a government of national unity could be formed, which would strengthen his hand in negotiations with the Israelis. A ceasefire was indeed announced the following day but it proved an empty formula as the fighting and killing continued.
Ahern travelled on to Cairo for meetings with Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, both of whom were emphatic about the need for a Palestinian national government and cautiously optimistic that this could be achieved.
The European Union slapped a boycott on the Palestinian Authority when Hamas took political control of the PA in the elections of January 2006. The basis for the boycott and suspension of aid was that Hamas does not recognise Israel or any previous peace agreements and supports terror attacks on Israeli cities and towns.
At the time the international community, including the moderate element in the Arab world, was in shock over the Hamas electoral triumph and quick decisions were taken in response. It would have been wiser, some now believe, to have taken a carrot-and-stick approach and to have given Hamas a period of, say, six months to change its policies. This could have generated internal debate within Hamas circles and might have been more effective than presenting them with a fait accompli, which is what happened.
Ahern concluded his visit with a stopover in Beirut, where he met Fouad Siniora, the country's embattled prime minister, before motoring south to inspect Irish troops on UN duty.
It's a fair bet that not only Ireland but the rest of Europe are fated to be involved in the Middle East for many years to come, but it may be a source of encouragement that two of the books that were seen in the offices at the Muqata were A Dictionary of Diplomacy and International Affairs, in English, French and Arabic, and the better-known work by psychologist Edward de Bono entitled Lateral Thinking.