G8 demands a halt to hostilities in the Middle East, but is anyone listening?

As our illustrious leaders meet in St Petersburg, Russia, the hostilities continue unabated. The pleas and platitudes continue to flow but fall on deaf ears. George Bush blames Iran and Syria for sponsoring Hezbollah while European Leaders call on Israel for restraint. In the middle of all this Russia hope to be given membership of the World Trade Organisation but the United States still has not allowed them entry.

Is it me? Or are their priorities somewhat misguided? Would it not be better to concentrate on getting one thing right instead of this butter fly approach of flitting from subject to subject without solving any of them. The Middle East problem has existed for many years and despite the Camp David meetings, the road maps, the initiatives, we have absolutely nothing to show for it. Maybe it is time for a different approach, a non-political approach where a small team of ‘ordinary’ people from a selection of countries sit down with representatives of the aggrieved parties and sort it out. Could they possibly do any worse than the mess we have now?

To read a little more detail on this subject go to:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4050185.html

16 July 2006.