The tiniest glimmer of hope

News in the Sydney Morning Herald today that the grandson of Mohandas Gandhi took the legendary Indian leader's doctrine of non-violent resistance to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict yesterday, pitching the pacifist creed to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

There have been a number of attempts to encourage the Palestinian people to use nonviolent action in the past (see nonviolence in Palestine, testing the power of nonviolence in Palestine, leading Palestinians call for nonviolence) but to my knowledge none have involved meetings with Yasser Arafat himself.

However unlikely, one can only hope it planted a seed in Mr Aarafat's mind. May it turn out to be a mustard seed that grows into a giant bush of love, discipline and courage among the Palestinian people - creating the opportunity for the Israeli peace movement to pressure the Knesset for a meaningful peace agreement.