Your views

Dear Sir,
Israel exists and that is accepted. David Lee does not need to convince us of the legalities on that, although it is not as watertight as he makes out , and the borders need international adjudication . However, David Lee refuses to accept that the Palestinians are also entitled to their own nationhood. Why does he object to a Palestinian state?
 The western powers should withdraw unconditional support for Israel and impose political pressure on Israel to seek peace .
Israel would then be more compromising. The state of war allows Israel to receive vast sums of foreign aid from the USA, plus military hardware .  Also it allows Israel to stir up hatred in the West for any Arab nation that supports the Palestinians.  Israel pursues a policy of “grazing” Gaza every few years to destroy the infrastructure and impose terrible hardship on the Palestinians  for Israel the status quo is carefully managed to consolidate it’s control over Jerusalem , the West Bank and Gaza. The poor Palestinians are denied their rights and dignity.
 I agree with Steve Humphries that the Palestinians deserve a just and rightful outcome.
 This will not be achieved by more military action from either side but through negotiations. The politicians involved must be committed to a peaceful solution .
 David Lee raised the question of women’s rights and it is right to say that Saudi Arabia needs to reform . However, the orthodox Hasidic women endure “ shaving , ritual bathing after menstruation , receive little education beyond religious and domestic training , are oppressed , and are socially imprisoned”. The treatment of these women by the orthodox Jews does not seem at all enlightened.
I would like to quote Victor Hugo .. “ The guilty one is not the one who commits the sin , but the one who causes the darkness”.