Almost everyone is agreed that the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict has developed into a major threat to international peace and security. It has spawned hate, terrorism and death on a global scale.
Darfur's humanitarian scandal is at last attracting some international action, but Israel's repression of the Palestinians in the occupied territories remains largely neglected. Although on a smaller scale of horror, it is far more dangerous, not least because of the violent emotions it arouses around the world.
The conflict has brutalised Israel, turning it into a paranoid and cruel fortress state which, in pursuit of elusive security, continues to commit terrible crimes, as was seen in Lebanon last summer and in the occupied Palestinian territories on every day of the week.
Palestinian and Lebanese societies have been shattered, relations between the West and the Muslim world have been poisoned, the United States has been stripped of moral authority by its unquestioning support for Israel, while a thirst for revenge has been aroused in every Arab from the Atlantic to the Gulf. There is no more urgent problem on the international agenda, but how is it to be resolved?
Former US president Bill Clinton may be the only man in the world able to bring the parties to the negotiating table. He is acceptable to both sides, and has enough personal authority, expert knowledge and persuasive charm to stand a reasonable chance of success. As president of the US, Clinton came close in 2000 to forging peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and Syrians. He should now be given a second chance.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, should appoint him his chief peace negotiator with the immediate task of convening, chairing and animating a conference of Israel, the Palestinians and Syria - a task even bigger than that undertaken by former US secretary of state James Baker in 1991, when he coaxed Arabs and Israelis, including the highly reluctant Israeli prime minister Itzhak Shamir - into attending a peace conference in Madrid.
In any such task, Clinton would need the firm support of the Bush Administration, the UN Security Council, the European Union, the Arab League and of part at least of the powerful American Jewish community.
Only a concerted international effort, willing and able to exert real pressure on both sides, could hope to produce results.
It might be objected that Clinton will be far too busy in the coming months helping his wife Hillary in her bid for the presidency. But, even a partial success at peace-making - simply getting the process moving - would win him enormous prestige and establish the Clintons as a unique "power couple" on the world stage.
Clinton should perhaps be assisted by former World Bank president James Wolfensohn (not to be confused with the discredited Paul Wolfowitz), whose task would be to raise a multibillion-dollar fund from international donors to finance the compensation and re-settlement of Palestinian refugees, the removal of Israeli settlers from the West Bank, and the rehabilitation of the shattered Palestinian economy.
On this 40th anniversary year of Israel's 1967 victory - and the 40th year of its occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory - it is surely time to bring the conflict to a close and give peace a chance. It is the only guarantee of Israel's long-term security.
Yet the international community seems paralysed by the magnitude of the task. The Arabs have launched a far-ranging peace initiative but have put little political or financial muscle behind it. The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has paid repeated visits to the region, but has achieved next to nothing.
Restrictions
The US has directly contributed to the misery. Restrictions imposed by the US Department of the Treasury have prohibited financial dealings or transactions with the Palestinian Government. As a result, even the Palestinian banking sector has avoided doing business with the government for fear of litigation under US anti-terrorism laws, thereby depriving the government of previously available lending facilities.
In Gaza, unemployment is approaching 35 per cent and 88 per cent of households live below the poverty line. Meanwhile, Israeli colonies, illegal under international law, continue to expand relentlessly.
In his introduction to the report, Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office, writes that "A situation of prosperity and security, on the one side, and military occupation, poverty and insecurity, on the other side, is fraught with dangers for both sides and is not sustainable."
He ends with these words: "I know how difficult it is to express adequately in the language of a report the profound feeling of collective punishment that the Palestinian people legitimately harbour in their hearts. Again and again, the word 'dignity" comes to mind. First and foremost, because Palestinians' dignity is being trampled in so many ways, but also because of the dignity with which they confront the humiliations to which individuals, families and communities are regularly subjected.
"This resilience is a source of inner strength enabling the Palestinian identity, far from being weakened, to nourish the collective energy to persist in the conviction that their quest for freedom will ultimately prevail and peace with Israel will be possible."
In present circumstances, only someone like Bill Clinton could make it possible.
Patrick Seale is a commentator and author of several books on Middle East affairs.
