Ulster Leaders Give Pep Talk to 2 Sides in the Mideast
A group of Israeli and Palestinian politicians have met for unusual talks in the English Midlands, joined by figures who negotiated Northern Ireland's breakthrough peace accord of 1998.

"We are able to meet here because it is impossible to meet back home with the siege and the checkpoints," said Yasir Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian minister of information and culture. "London has become closer to Ramallah for us than Israel is."

Yossi Beilin, former Israeli justice minister and advocate of the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis that began in Oslo, saw parallels between the Middle East and Northern Ireland. He said he thought progress in the Middle East had been stalled by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's insistence on an end to violence before any talks could begin.

In Northern Ireland, he said, the peace process moved forward only once the precondition of full disarmament was removed. "It tells me, beware of preconditions," he said. "You can become their slaves."

Much of the conversation at the two days of talks, which were sponsored by the newspaper The Guardian, centered on how the progress in Northern Ireland might inform the stalemated process in the Middle East. But the Israelis attending were not representatives of the Sharon government, or in a position to negotiate with authority.

Still, the participants saw merit in resuming contacts. "The clear message for the Israeli public from the Irish experience and the experience we've had here after many years of talking to each other, and many months of not talking to each other, is that there is a Palestinian partner and a Palestinian peace camp," said Avraham Burg, speaker of the Parliament. "I hope the Palestinians will realize there is an Israeli peace partner and an Israeli peace camp."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/international/middleeast/02IREL.html