Middle East problems (From Oxford Mail)

Middle East problems

10:00am Friday 27th July 2012 in Letters

I AM grateful to Steve Jack for sharing my concern over double-standards applied to the Israel/Palestine tragedy (Oxford Mail, July 19).

I have no information on the rights Palestinians have in other Arab countries, but I do remember the rights they enjoyed in the refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila where thousands were slaughtered in 1982 by Christian-Maronites encouraged by Ariel Sharon.

I deplore the persecution of Christian or any other sects in Gaza, Nigeria or anywhere.

I do not need to be reminded of the “terror attacks” on Israel by stone-throwing Palestinians or Hamas when all that Israel has to defend itself with are a few hundred American-supplied fighter-bombers, attack-helicopters or Merkava tanks.

Mr Jack tells us that the Palestinians refused the 2000 Camp David “offer” of 95 per cent of the West Bank, but fails to go into detail including retention of several illegal settlements linked to Israel by a by-pass road which would split the West Bank in two.

The “offer” showed that Israel would retain nine per cent of Palestinian land in exchange for 1 per cent of Israeli land.

I find it difficult to reconcile the support given by the Allies to the resistance movements in Western Europe during the Nazi occupation and oppression when Hamas is doing the same thing, but are labelled terrorists.

Mr Jack has overlooked the fact that Israel has blatantly ignored several UN resolutions, international law and compliance with Human Rights. Indigenous Bedouin and cave-dwellers living in the West Bank for generations are evicted for flimsiest reasons to facilitate more illegal settlements.

GORDON CLACK, Witney Road, Ducklington

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