Senior adviser to Palestine President Arafat Mohamed Rachid Arafat and Israeli Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit, both former negotiators, were among the official speakers at the conference together with the authors of the Geneva Accord, also former peace negotiators, Yossi Beilin of Israel and Yasser Abed Rabbo of Palestine.

Also participating in the debate were various representative of civil society including Daniel Levy and Ghaith El Omari from the Geneva Initiative.

In his short opening remarks, Dr Frendo said that with regard to the Israeli-Palestine conflict, one can sense a creeping sense of despondency and hopelessness internationally. This must be resisted and turned round since the world simply cannot afford to “accept” the perennial existence of this conflict. “The Middle East conflict,” said Dr Frendo, “is a festering wound that does not only affect the people on the ground or the region but indeed has effects on a global scale. This is a conflict in the immediate neighbourhood of the European Union and the European Union has a particularly important role to play in the process of peace”.

“We cannot sit and stare and commiserate. We cannot keep on waiting for elections here and there hoping for interlocutors who engage with one another. The engagement for peace is possible and must be achieved. In this, the role of the Quartet is essential and, within the Quartet, the European Union must carry out a defining and determining role. We need to find the thread which unpicks the fabric of violence”, he said.

He added that the European Union itself is a very good example of how hopelessness should not be allowed to creep in, since the EU has managed to bring peace and stability to a continent which was war-torn and full of conflict for centuries. Dr Frendo said that in the analysis of the Middle East conflict, one had to take into account internal politics both on the Palestinian side and on the Israeli side.

He lamented that there was a lack of dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian side and, indeed, it was unclear who the interlocutors could be. He queried whether the side-lining of important personalities had brought the area any closer to peace.

Dr Frendo also made reference to the importance of ensuring that both states, living side by side, had sufficient water resources to ensure their viability, and suggested that this issue could, perhaps, be a matter which could lead to a dialogue for peace, so missing in the area today.

In introducing the topic for discussion, Dr Frendo asked whether the wall, or the fence – as the two sides use different terminology – was part of the solution or part of the problem, whether the Road Map could still be implemented or whether it was effectively dead and whether Gaza would, on its own, be a viable entity.