YOUR VIEWS

It seems anyone who raises a voice against Israel is immediately branded an anti Semitic, or gullible idiot. I admire the way Mr. Ash sprinkles his letter with various quotes and statistics, as good a job at cherry picking as anything Mr. Fleming can come up with.

As to Israel not being the bully boys of the neighbourhood, well, every report from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch would beg to differ, and the disproportionate force they usually employ only underlines this fact. The Palestinians have been doubly cursed by fate in having a corrupt and weak leadership and a war-like nation who covets their lands.

From the British in North America and Australia to the Dutch in South Africa , from the Nazis in Eastern Europe to the Zionists in Palestine, every conquering regime has evoked the same claim that the territory appointed for conquest was deserted.

I'm well aware that the Zionists attempted to buy up lands in Palestine and I'm sure much of it was arid scrub and malarial swamp. I'm also well aware that when they realised it was impossible to buy all the land they needed they took the next best option, they stole it. They cleared the hundreds of Arab villages, ethnic cleansing as it is known today, with the blood thirsty help of the Palmah and Irgun, the terrorists of their day before statehood bestowed respectability on them and the likes of Menachem Begin and Yitzak Shamir made the monumental jump from wanted list to VIP list.

I'm sure Mr. Ash can tell me who it was who said history is written by the victors. Israel will never enjoy total peace while they occupy lands illegally and although I think Palestine will fail in their quest for full UN recognition, I hope it's a case of justice delayed, not denied.

Steve Humphries, Magalluf