Northern Ireland's lesson for Gaza

A long-term end to the horror in Gaza is only possible through Palestinian self-determination alongside Israeli security - the internationally agreed foundation for lasting peace since the Oslo Accords, now over 30 years old.

- Peter Hain

But among the many obstacles to that goal lies a deeper threat: corruption. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is already facing corruption charges.

Corruption is endemic within the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. In Gaza, masked Hamas fighters are already executing those they don’t control - and, as I detail in my new book, Liberation and Corruption, one-party states historically have been breeding grounds for systemic corruption.

Even multiparty democracies with strong constitutional foundations are not immune. South Africa has betrayed the values of its liberation struggle, descending into ubiquitous corruption. It is a haunting precedent for any future Palestinian state. Gandhi’s Congress party, inspirational when it was struggling for Indian independence, became deeply corrupt in office. In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega - a hero during the liberation struggle - became a corrupt, misogynistic, dictatorial and nepotistic head of state.

Similar patterns can be seen in Zimbabwe, Angola, Bolivia and Cuba. Other liberated countries, such as Algeria, maintained the corruption that had been institutionalised during their former colonial regimes or apartheid.