The Guardian: Israel and Palestine don't need more friends – but the peace process does

"...Gradually I became aware of the enormous gulf that separates those of us who view the conflict from afar – whether from our perch on liberal newspapers or in well-meaning thinktanks – from those who have actually to solve the problem. From this distance, the solution might seem painfully obvious: any cool-headed moderate can see where the midpoint between the two sides lies. But that is to reckon without the pressures on the negotiators within their own team, from a public opinion always ready to cry sell-out, and from the US. And that's even before you get to the demands of the other side.

Gill dreams of creating a "community of shadow negotiators" – people around the world who understand not the narrative of the other so much as the predicament of the peacemakers themselves. It is a noble aim, one that would serve as a corrective to the armies of outsiders whose current contribution is simply to fuel the anger of the two sides, rather than to find a way out – inflaming grievances rather than finding solutions. What's needed are people who understand the price that has to be paid and who are ready to support it.

Those apart from this conflict who claim to care about one or both peoples should take note. There is no shortage of friends of the Israelis or advocates of the Palestinians. What's missing are friends of peace itself." Jonathan Freedland

Israel and Palestine don't need more friends – but the peace process does

Roleplaying PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat made me see how easily one slips from problem-solving to point-scoring