Kevin McKenna’s footprints of prejudice are stamped all over his latest column ("What led to the massacre at Bondi Beach? I'll give you one guess", The Herald, December 16).
His first dig is at Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf for expressing solidarity days before the Australia atrocity with those arrested for supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action.
Then he launches a tirade against Glaswegians in the "West End or Strathbungo…semi-retired poshos all smug and sanctimonious” trying to prove their left-wing credentials by also supporting the Palestinians.
Latest figures show more than 70,000 have died in Gaza since Israel began its bombing campaign following the appalling October 7 attacks by Hamas that killed 1200.
Mr McKenna says calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide is a red flag signalling anti-Semitism.
Many United Nations bodies say it’s genocide, and the International Criminal Court has a warrant out for Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.
The illegal occupation of Gaza by the Israelis since 1967 is brushed aside by your writer, putting "occupation" in inverted commas.
He’s now on his soap box: "Scotland, which was once hailed across the Jewish world as a safe haven, now holds them in contempt.”
What utter drivel. He is wrong. Is his ego so big he thinks he can speak for an entire country?
And I’ve started so I’ll finish. What else could follow but criticism of First Minister John Swinney for his initial response to Bondi because he failed to mention the victims were Jews? So boring, Mr McKenna, and so predictable.
Andy Stenton, Glasgow.
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• Kevin McKenna asks "What led to the massacre at Bondi Beach? I'll give you one guess". He shamefully uses this atrocity as yet another platform for sneering remarks about what he deems the "Holyrood elites" and especially current and former SNP leaders, alluding to their "flag-waving" and "pithy slogans" that achieve nothing. If he really wants an answer to his question, he should look no further than the letter from Trevor Rigg in the same Herald issue, pointing to the horrific slaughter in Gaza perpetrated by Israelis, and laying the blame for that squarely with Benjamin Netanyahu. Like many other commentators, Mr McKenna dances around the pinhead definitions of genocide with the mealy-mouthed comment that "it doesn't have to be genocide to be unacceptable". Oh my, what a concession!
Mr Rigg suggests that where blame for the Bondi Beach event is concerned, Mr Netanyahu should address the mote in his own eye rather than seeking to blame others. Mr McKenna might find a similar exercise very worthwhile.
Dr Angus Macmillan, Dumfries.
A disservice to journalism
I believe Kevin McKenna does a real disservice to journalism in his latest article. It is a blatant untruth to imply that all pro-Palestine protesters are anti-Semites. The great majority of protesters are simply stating their horror at Benjamin Netanyahu's ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Gaza – an ethnic cleansing that continues with the daily cold-blooded killing of innocent civilians despite a so-called "ceasefire".
The increasing incidence of anti-Semitism worldwide is horrible and inexcusable. Mr McKenna appears to be saying that the cause lies with pro-Palestine protesters who object to what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza and helping settlers to do in the West Bank. So, all these protesters are closet anti-Semites? Absolutely untrue! Now that the world is awash with lies and misinformation perhaps responsible newspapers like The Herald should hold its opinion writers to a more stringent standard.
I have been on a pro-Palestine march. I saw no "spitting at Jews" although I saw some respectful debate with counter-protesters with Israeli flags and photos of hostages. Let me be clear, Hamas is a vile organisation that needs to be removed from power. Their actions are despicable and inexcusable. Benjamin Netanyahu is cynically exploiting this to expel Palestinians from their own land, with a cruelty equal to Hamas. How is this helping Jews worldwide?
In the same edition of the paper, we had atheist Neil Mackay extolling the values of Jesus Christ. We need more of that and less of Mr McKenna fomenting intolerance.
Sandy Slater, Stirling.
Different standards
The world is rightly shocked at the death of 15 Jewish Australians in the shooting at Bondi. We are told the names and ages of the victims and their qualities.
In Gaza, since the "ceasefire", 400 nameless Palestinians have been killed by Israel forces. We know nothing of their ages, their qualities or who loved them. In the West Bank since 2008 and as part of the constant Israeli violence 400 Palestinian civilians have been killed and over 2,000 injured in their homes and on their streets but we don't hear their names or know that they were good people who liked to help their neighbours. We do not hear their killers called racist or terrorist. As ever, there are standards for white people like us and other standards for Palestinians.
Broadcast media attribute atrocities like Bondi to "anti-Semitism". This is, at best, a lazy, biased failure to ask why this conflict continues. Are the Palestinians simply intrinsically "bad people"? Of course not. Might there be some reason for the conflict? Of course there is.
The reason this conflict continues is that the Palestinian people are allowed no hope of peace, a future for their children or protection against the destruction of their homes and the theft of their land. Calling that "anti-Semitism" is deeply dishonest, biased and cynical and a contribution to ongoing conflict, misery and death.
David Currie, Tarland.
Faith and politics do mix
I am prompted to write yet again to your Letters Pages by Neil Mackay’s splendid article ("Know what, Robinson? Christ would be on a beach giving tea and blankets to refugees”, The Herald, December 16). Jesus is, after all, reported as saying: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
That quote is not only a fundamental of the Christian faith, it is the foundation of the system of universal human rights which are currently under attack from so many directions.
So I suggest that as we approach Christmas Day we reflect seriously on the relationship between faith and politics. An appropriate and active politics can be a clear demonstration of Christian discipleship. After all, Mahatma Gandhi is alleged to have said: “Those who believe religion and politics aren’t connected don’t understand either.”
I suggest we start by asking ourselves if we celebrate the birth of Jesus in the most appropriate way by feeding the insatiable hunger of a capitalist system which is not designed to care for those at the margins of society. Loving your neighbour includes opposing the system that does so many of them great harm.
Such subversion is most certainly in the spirit of Jesus.
John Milne, Uddingston.
Trump's latest disgrace
At a time when my belief in the progress of the human race is being sorely tested, once again the President of the United States shows just how low a person of extremely limited intelligence backed up by the ego-massaging of a personal circus troupe of sycophants can sink.
The murder of Rob Reiner is as heartbreaking as the events leading up to it. For Donald Trump to then blame Rob Reiner is reprehensible, as is the lack of outrage and outcry of world leaders to at last stand up and condemn him for yet another ludicrous outburst ("Donald Trump criticised for comments on the death of Rob and Michele Reiner" heraldscotland, December 15). At what point will leaders stand up, in public, and call out this disgraceful US President. He surely can't have the power to silence all voices. Can he?
Dr Graeme Finnie, Forfar.
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