If a Palestinian flag were peacefully raised over Palestinian government offices in Jerusalem, few Arab eyes would still see Israel through a veil of hatred. The immovable obstacle to a lasting region-wide peace would be removed. While the implementation of such a framework for peace would be relatively simple, its acceptance would require a moral, spiritual and psychological transformation from both Israelis and Palestinians. Yet, given the decades of hatred, bitterness and distrust, any settlement would require such a transformation. Precisely because such a transformation would be so difficult, it is far more likely to be achieved if both peoples can be inspired by a truly compelling vision of a new society of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and human dignity, in which both peoples are winners, than if they are left to contemplate painful programs for a new partition and an angry separation in which both peoples must regard themselves, to a considerable degree, as admitting defeat.
Peace is unimaginable on any other basis.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the major Irish firms was invited to Egypt to get acquainted with the quality of Egyptian products. Egypt has no trade representation office in Ireland. Head of the Academy, Mustafa Hudeib, said that the conference would discuss 35 papers focusing on major topics like investment strategies and the role of stock markets, financial institutions and banks in promoting investments. The conference will also address the effect of privatization, trade liberalization and globalization on investments in the emerging markets, in addition to studying economic structures and the atmosphere of investments in the Arab world. It also aims at following up the financial, economic and banking developments at the Arab and international levels.