It will not have gone unnoticed that a peace agreement is in operation between Hamas - the military wing of the Palestinians - and Israel.

Both sides have agreed to give this historic accord a six-month trial. It should be noted that both parties reached this landmark without the aid of outsiders, eg, Condoleezza Rice or Tony Blair.

Tony who? Wasn't he supposed to head the body supported by the EU, the United Nations and other great powers with a fully staffed office in Jerusalem?

The silence from Tom Hickey, a philosophy lecturer at Brighton University who advocated that the solution to the Arab/Israel problem was an academic boycott via the University and College Union (Letters, June 8), is deafening.

Is Mr Hickey now going to lead a campaign to increase academic cross fertilisation as the sensible way forward? He would be providing a commendable lead if he would say so.

He and others like him who profess to be knowledgeable about the Middle East should be leading by example to get behind the initiative by the protagonists to ensure that firstly, the six-month trial is extended and, secondly, to use the new situation as a platform for helping to extend this first stage to more meaningful agreements, one by one if necessary, towards a permanent peace agreement so desperately needed by everyone.

The advantages to all parties, especially the Arabs, is inestimable.

  • CM Jacobs, Grand Avenue, Hove