Jackson urges inspiration from Arafat's struggle
Republicans and unionists trying to strike a Northern Ireland peace deal should draw inspiration from Yasser Arafat’s struggle, the Reverend Jesse Jackson claimed today.
As the Palestinian leader’s death triggered a fresh assessment of his achievements, political rivals in Belfast were urged to end their own standoff.
Mr Jackson, the American Civil Rights campaigner, insisted a political settlement in the North would be easier than either Arafat’s challenge or Nelson Mandela’s battle against apartheid in South Africa.
He said: “If the PLO can be recognised as a state in making, surely Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists can make that same leap.
“Frankly, they don’t have as far to go as the Palestinians had to go or as South Africa had to go.”
Mr Jackson, who was holding talks with both unionist and nationalist communities during a visit to Belfast, stressed peace was less risky than conflict.
With the IRA believed to be close to an unprecedented disarmament move, the Irish and British governments have stepped up attempts to restore the power-sharing administration in Belfast.
Unionists who walked out of the Stormont Assembly two years ago over an alleged intelligence gathering operation run by the Provisionals are refusing to sit in a cabinet with Sinn Féin until paramilitary weapons are destroyed.
But Dublin and London must also wrestle with a bid by Ian Paisley’s DUP to make big changes to the Good Friday Agreement, including an attempt to have ministers held to account by their colleagues and the 108-member parliament.
Yet Mr Jackson, who twice tried in vain to win his party’s nomination for the US presidential election, issued a message of hope.
“Sometimes these struggles for human dignity are long and drawn out,” he said.
“But ultimately that which is morally right prevails.
“Peace is risky but war is more risky. Peace is worth the risk.
“No matter how difficult it is, it happens if leaders have the courage to seal the deal.”
Even if the deadlock appears unbreakable, Mr Jackson told the political parties to study South Africa’s transformation.
He added: “It was not long ago that Mandela was in jail. It seemed ending apartheid was unrealistic.
“Now Mandela is seen as the ultimate global statesman.”
