LONDON // When Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, returns to Jerusalem in the New Year to resume his efforts to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians he will remind himself that the impossible can happen. Gaza, he will say, to widespread disbelief, can become a catalyst for useful change.
He hopes the carnage there will show that violence achieves nothing. Only when reasonable people unite against extremists can progress be made.
Mr Blair, who became Middle East envoy for The Quartet, the UN, the EU, the United States and Russia, when he left Downing Street spends a week every month at the American Colony hotel in East Jerusalem.
Optimism like his is essential for anyone trying to resolve conflicts. Recent history has seen the resolution, through negotiation (and occasionally sheer fatigue ) of apparently insoluble conflicts around the world; in Kenya, Cyprus, Lebanon, Indonesia, Yugoslavia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Nicaragua and elsewhere. But the men and women who have negotiated truces and peace treaties often faced scepticism, that they could never succeed.
Mr Blair will say that everyone thought he was mad when he promised to bring peace to Northern Ireland after he became prime minister in 1997. A year later, with the Good Friday Agreement, he persuaded the Provisional IRA and its political wing, Sinn Fein, and the Unionists, and assorted para-militaries, that continued violence was pointless.
Today, former leading members of the Provisionals, such as Martin McGuinness, and diehard Unionists, such as Ian Paisley, who once hated each other, now share power - and jokes. Gerry Adams, once Sinn Fein's apologist for IRA violence, tours the world preaching that you should talk to your enemies rather than blow them up.
Mr Blair often says that Israelis and Palestinians must learn from Northern Ireland.
However, he knows that there are no meaningful similarities between the two conflicts. He talks about Northern Ireland for two reasons. First, because he is famously vain and enjoys the myth that he was responsible for peace in the province. And, second, more credibly, because he wants people in the Middle East to believe that a solution to their problems can be found.
The conflict in Northern Ireland between Catholics, who wanted a united Ireland, and Protestants, who did not, ended because both sides were exhausted by three decades of violence. Nothing was resolved.
Mr Blair knows this cannot happen in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Treaties must be signed. Territory must be divided. There can be no fudge.
A few days before Israel launched its assault, Mr Blair told an Israeli journalist that Hamas had to be persuaded to recognise Israel's right to exist - as the PLO did in 1993 and again in 1998 - or it must be removed from the political map.
He contrasted Gaza with the West Bank, where a secular Palestinian government was slowly demonstrating that the old days, of corruption and inefficiency, were over.
Most Israelis and Palestinians, he said, accepted that there must be two states, Israel and Palestine. The devil was not only in the detail but in persuading the two sides they could trust each other. There was an agreement on the basics of what should happen - which was inconceivable a few years ago. The challenge now, Mr Blair keeps saying, is to turn the theory of two states into reality.
Mr Blair is certain to point out to Palestinians that Israel had a duty to protect its people from a daily barrage of Hamas rockets. But he will also tell Jerusalem it has boosted support for Hamas.
Ordinary Palestinians and Israelis, he believes, must learn to trust each other. Only then will agreements negotiated by politicians have a chance of success.
sfreeman@thenational.ae
EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company%20Profile
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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Blonde
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SPECS
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
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