Here is a very moving message I have received from a decent reader:
As someone who has no reason to be supportive of Israel - no reason beyond a sense of common fairness and a preference for the truth over propaganda, I want to say thank you for your continued and public defence of the state of Israel against its enemies. I am not Jewish. I have no Jewish blood, no Israeli friends, and indeed, my Irish Catholic background predisposed me at one time to mistakenly find common cause with the Palestinian people. Nevertheless, I am horrifed – utterly horrified - by the endless demonisation of Israel which has become so prevalent in the British and European media, simply for defending itself against the mass murderers of Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
I cannot recall a single other issue where black has endlessly been portrayed as white, and white as black; where a publicly-funded media with a duty to fairness and balance has so consistently told only half the story at best, while at worst telling outright lies, and openly admitting its bias by weeping for Arafat in his final illness. I cannot recall a more pernicious or more pervasive inversion of the truth than we are witnessing now in the British media's attitude to Israel and the defence of its citizens against religiously-driven murderers. We hear of Zionist 'ethnic cleansing' - yet where will we see openly compared the stated aims of Hamas and those of the state of Israel? Which side truly, openly espouses ethnic cleansing? Only one of them, and it is not Israel. We hear the lie again and again that the Palestinians are fighting for their own state. The truth is, of course, that they could by now have a peaceful and prosperous state alongside Israel - if that is what they really wanted.
It has been said that the Palestinians don’t know how to take yes for an answer, but the truth is that the west has consistently misunderstood the question they are asking. I recall reading of Hitler's depression following the Munich Agreement negotiations - how he had been given almost everything he had asked for, and became angry that he had been 'cheated out of his war'. Arafat, at least, did not bother to take the pretence so far, and yet everything isstill the fault of Israel.
I am grateful to you for using your voice to counter where you can some of the many lies and slanders about Israel. Personally I feel a kind of despair, Melanie. The lies are constant, they are everywhere, and the other side of the story seems never to be told, unless one takes the trouble to inform oneself rather than soaking up the television news. Is there anything that we normal people can do? Is there any way that the average citizen can contribute to the battle against these lies?
Just inform as many people as you can about the truth that you so clearly see, and never lose faith that right and justice will eventually prevail over evil and lies.
