Up the PLOvos!

According to the Guardian Gerry Adams is to meet with leading Palestinians to share his experiences of a peace process.

The MP for West Belfast was invited by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas, which emerged as the strongest party in the Palestinian elections in January, is banned in the EU and the US, where it is deemed to be a terrorist organisation.

There have long been contacts between the PLO and the republican movement in Northern Ireland.

The Israeli government has made it clear it will not receive Mr Adams because of his intention to talk with Hamas. The White House reportedly tried to dissuade Mr Adams from going.

The Sinn Féin initiative is the latest in a series of visits to international conflict zones. Martin McGuinness, the party's chief negotiator, was in Sri Lanka and the Basque country earlier this summer.

"The Sinn Féin leadership has shared [its] experience of the Irish peace process with those seeking peaceful alternatives to conflict," Mr Adams said.

I can think of all sorts of differences between Britain in Ireland and zionism in Palestine but the one that springs to my mind is the fact that the provos got all sorts of support from America. Still, give the lad a chance.