Madam, - Lara Marlowe's article in your edition of August 15th was one of the best articles I have read about the behaviour of the Israeli state in Lebanon since July 12th. It is high time that the Israeli shouts of "anti-Semitism" every time their state is criticised, were ignored and their actions were seen for what they are. Israel is a state, so must behave differently to terrorist organisations. And yet if any other state was involved in what the Israelis call "targeted assassinations" there would be a furore.
After all, when it was thought that the British Army had a "shoot to kill" policy in the north of Ireland there was uproar. So, when states are involved there cannot be double standards. As Ms Marlowe said, what happened in Lebanon recently was mass murder. - Yours, etc,
JOHN O'BRIEN, Bray, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - Why, I wonder, do you publish columns of letters from contributors who may never have set foot in the Middle East? In future I will not be reading contributions from "Friends of Israel" or "Palestinian Solidarity" positions. Who but a masochist would want a diet like this - opinions based on opinion, unsupported by reliable sources?
I shall stick with informed analysts - Clonan and Dorr for example - to light my understanding through the darkness that benights Israel and her unhappy neighbours. - Yours, etc,
JOHN F. FALLON, Boyle, Co Roscommon.
Madam, - In their informative article of August 15th, Rory Miller and Alan Shatter presented an impressive inventory of murder and mayhem practised by many regimes - acts of violence far exceeding anything that Israel, in a defensive war, has done in defence of its civilian population.
They ended with a poignant request for an explanation as to why only Israel was singled out for such harsh criticism, and the statement that they "just can't figure it out." Well, I have an explanation. It has not escaped my attention that all of the other instances which they chronicled were committed by states which are not Jewish - after all there is only one Jewish State in the world , Israel.
Ergo, I conclude that the outpouring of criticism and hatred reserved specially for Israel is precisely because it is the Jewish homeland. It may be politically incorrect to call that anti-Semitism, but I cannot think of a better explanation. - Yours, etc,
Prof BRIAN SMITH, Montreal, Canada.