Following up on yesterday’s post about Lord David Trimble (pictured), see his commentary in today’s edition of The Guardian:
But agreement will mean an accommodation, not a victory of one side over another. Still less will it mean the annihilation of the “other”. Where does Hamas stand on these matters? Will it accept a two-state solution? Will it end violence? These are reasonable questions to ask. Hamas’s failure to satisfactorily reply shows that it would be wrong to try to include it. The preconditions for engagement were clear for the IRA in the early 1990s, and they are clear for Hamas today – renounce violence, recognise Israel, and accept previous peace agreements.