When Robin Cook visited the Middle East last month, Israeli settlers picketed him, jeering "Go back and solve the Irish problem!"
During Tony Blair’s visit last week, Israel’s leaders were falling over each other in the stampede to encourage him to repeat his Ireland agreement in the Middle East.
It seems that the Israeli right understands more clearly than many British liberals that this agreement is a major victory for imperialism, and a setback to the liberation struggle.
There are many differences between the conflicts in Ireland and Palestine; but there are also many important similarities – notably the rôle of British imperialism in fostering the conflicts and engineering the partitions. In both conflicts, the proposed ‘agreements’ do not merely confirm partition – they legitimise the sectarian division of the working class.
Many of the issues are paralleled in both conflicts. For example, the Unionists demand the revision of articles in the Irish constitution calling for a united Ireland, while Israel demands the repeal of articles in the Palestine National Charter calling for a united Palestine.
But the most important similarity is one which none of the major protagonists will admit – the mistakes and defeat of the respective national movements.
Both the IRA and the PLO have engaged in a guerrilla military struggle, leading to diplomatic negotiations. Even the phrases used to describe this process have been similar - Yasser Arafat’s "Gun and Olive Branch", Danny Morrison’s "Armalite and Ballot Box".
These are both secret, elite modes of operation; neither organisation has really attempted to build a mass political movement, augmented if necessary by popular defence committees, in order to challenge imperialism and overcome sectarianism and partition.
One serious attempt at such a revolutionary struggle – the Palestinian Intifada – developed apart from, and even partly in opposition to, the PLO. The Palestinian and Israeli bourgeoisies had a common interest in suppressing this threat, and entered the discussions leading to the famous handshake between Rabin and Arafat in Washington.
Only such a mass political movement will be able to defeat imperialism, as the latest developments in Ireland and Palestine make clear.