YP Letters: Ceasing acts of terror is key to peace moves

Does Tony Blair's handwritten pledge to the people of Northern Ireland following the Good Friday Agreement offer a template for peace in the Middle East?

IN my recent letter “Palestinians must renounce all terror  tactics”, I did not propose a solution to the Middle East conflict – simple or otherwise – but to suggest a way the deadlock could be broken and peace talks started. I pointed out that the Israeli government would not negotiate until the Palestinian leadership ceased its acts of terrorism.

That is something the Palestinians must agree to before any talks on a peaceful solution can even begin.

No government anywhere will negotiate under duress or acts of terrorism. Stopping terrorist attacks, I believe, would put the onus on Israel to start peace talks and negotiations with the Palestinian leadership.

In his reply to my first letter, Mr Pye (The Yorkshire Post, September 18) stated that Northern Ireland has shown the way. However he was wrong on his first point, namely “it needs pressure from influential countries/organisations to push the parties towards reconciliation”.

The Good Friday agreement came about 20 years ago after a ceasefire, stopping acts of terror by all parties involved.