The panel debate 'Middle East peace: Can outsiders help?' took place at 'Change the World', the Fabian new year conference 2008 on Saturday 19th January 2008 at Imperial College London. The speakers were Tony Klug (Oxford Research Group); Baroness Jan Royall (FCO Lords spokeswoman on Middle East); Husam Zomlot (Palestinian Delegation to the UK); Orit Gal (Israeli academic and journalist), with Paul Hilder (Avaaz.org) chairing.

Saturday, 19th January

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British government minister expresses dismay at illegal Israeli settlements, while Palestinian and Israeli experts say that international community has essential role in making peace possible.

Time is running out for a two-state solution in the Middle East, Husan Zomlot told the Fabian 'Change the World' conference.

We have two years at most, because the facts on the ground were changing, said Zomlat, political advisor to the Palestinian diplomatic mission to the UK and Middle East consultant of the Oxford Research Group, stressing the essential role of outside facilitation in making a settlement possible.

'The two parties, left on their own, could not resolve the conflict. The asymmetry of power between occupier and occupied is too great', he said.

The panel debate was titled 'Middle East peace: can outsiders help?'. Paul Hilder of Avaaz, opening the session as chair had suggested that "'outsiders' aren't in fact outsiders – they are already involved in all sorts of ways. The issue is, do they help or harm?"

Tony Klug said that he regarded the conflict as 'eminently resolvable'. Not only were the details of the necessary deal well known, Klug asserted that the two parties are closer than ever before.

'The necessary endgame is well know by all parties', said Israeli journalist and academic Orit Gal. However, the lack of 'implementability' of solutions meant there was little buy-in to the process which could too easily be derailed by opponents seeking to wreck a deal on both sides, she said. The international community had to ensure that these issues were dealt with up front, rather than imagining that implementation could be left until after an agreement, said Gal.

British government minister Jan Royall described those arguing that a two-state solution was no longer viable as talking 'dangerous rubbish'.

Royall said that the key to moving forward was for each side to demonstrate that they are both prepared to do something in order to bring about peace. She expressed dismay at the continued building of settlements that are illegal under international law, saying it was damaging the peace process. The Government had protested to the Israelis about this: "people should know how strongly this govt feels about settlements."

The British government's approach was founded on 'unstinting support' for a two state solution as the only way to bring peace and security to both Israelis and Palestinians; on supporting those committed to peaceful progress in the region, including working with grassroots group seeking to build support among the Israeli and Palestinian publics; and on supporting economic development across the occupied territories, said Royall.

Klug argued that sustained progress depended on the Palestinian people are convinced that, at the end of the process, they will get a state of their own in which Israel returns to the

'What is needed is a clear undertaking from Israel that it is ready to terminate in full its occupation of the West Bank in return for peace, normalisation of relations, and everything else that needed to happen'

Securing this commitment should be the immediate focus of the international community: 'Outside powers must stay focused and resolute on this', said Klug, and must avoid 'complicating the agenda' by introducing their own extraneous agendas, for example related to the 'war on terror', said Klug.

Gal said that the only way to reverse the current negative trajectory in Gaza would intervention by outside parties under an international mandate – 'that would open Gaza up and allow the economy and civil society to develop', she said..

Zomlot said that the role of outsiders to date had often been destructive - for example, the way in which the international community responded to the Hamas' success in the Palestinian elections.

'Hamas is an internal issue, not an external one. The world should deal with the Palestinian representative organisation, not a particular party. Palestinians have produced a system based on elections – unique in the region. What's more people accepted the results', said Zumlot.

We remain distant from outside intervention based on a framework underpinned by consistency and universal values, he said.

'The UN is the organisation that created Israel. Its resolutions have international legitimacy. This should be the institution to deal with it. The only solution is respecting international values. The only solution is with an outside framework and with an outside force to implement it' , said Zomlot.

With agreement on the essential role of outside facilitation to make peace possible, Royall said she hoped that the next US President 'would make Middle East peace an immediate priority'.