Letters: Palestinians will continue to suffer under the rule of Hamas

Do they not recognise that in promoting Hamas to the leadership of the Palestinians they are helping to blind that people to the reason that is responsible for them being where they are now – a record of abysmal Arab leadership from the 1930s to the present day? Until that truth is recognised both inside Palestine and the wider Arab region, and rectified, there will be no change. Israel will remain powerful but insecure. Palestinians will suffer deprivation and humiliation. Both will be in their respective bunkers. Both sides will continue to kill, and the wells of hatred will be dug ever deeper. Solution? There will be none.

Jim Sillars, Edinburgh.

Destroying Gaza not the answer

WATCHING the latest bloodshed in Gaza and Israel it is difficult to believe that we all occupy the same planet. Hard to believe that in the 21st century, we humans are still shooting and bombing civilians and children, unable to solve our disputes by means of discussion and diplomacy.

The old imperial methods of smash and grab are here for all to see and there are few voices in support of the rights of the Palestinian people. All the post-war powers who agreed to the displacement of the Palestinians had a hand in the current morass that we see before our eyes, with Britain having its own particular role.

Hamas has been widely described as a terrorist organisation, as have all the liberation movements that have gone before them: the Mau Mau, the African National Congress, Sinn Fein; terrorists until they win and are embraced by their previous detractors. Who can forget the sight of Margaret Thatcher greeting Nelson Mandela in Westminster Hall?

The people of Northern Ireland were very fortunate in having a powerful lobby of Irish Americans at their back who used US power to broker the Good Friday Agreement. Who do the Palestinians have to renegotiate a decent deal for them?

If the current Israeli government believes that blasting Gaza into rubble is its guarantee of peace for the Israelis, then it is much mistaken. What it will achieve is another generation of young Palestinian refugees even more determined to take back power in their homeland.

This is a dreadful tragedy unfolding before our eyes and what is required is the courage shown in the past by the Nordic countries and Ireland to speak up for a fair settlement for Palestine. Well done all of those who have called for a ceasefire and for a negotiated settlement.

Strength to all the Israeli peace organisations whose voices are never represented in the mainstream media.

Maggie Chetty, Glasgow.

Read more: Israel and Gaza: What happens next?

Israel should take stock

LIKE Doug Maughan (Letters, October 11), I despair of the ill-thought-out and insensitive comments by Green MSP Maggie Chapman with regard to the savage attacks by Hamas in Israel ("Anger at Green MSP’s ‘vile’ tweet on Hamas", The Herald, October 10). However, it is clear to me that she makes some valid points on the actions of Israel within Palestine over the years including brutal suppression of the populace and stripping them of their homes and livelihood. Also, I concur with his observations on the different definitions of war between the rich and the poor.

The other day, I heard an Israeli military spokesman stating that the most recent actions by Hamas is Israel's 9/11. When 9/11 occurred I recall foolishly wondering if it would lead the Americans to reflect on their own foreign policies which had helped to create such a tragedy. Instead, we got the invasion of Afghanistan and, subsequently, the manufactured reasons to invade Iraq. We all know how well that has all turned out.

I really despair with regard to the human race's inability to live peacefully together. We now have the US and the UK standing together in support of Israel as it prepares to smash Gaza back to the stone age. Are our governments that much better than Putin's Russia when it comes to war?

Gordon Evans, Glasgow.

Keep an eye on Russia

THE attack on Israel by the extremist Hamas body from within Gaza has, I understand, been rightly condemned by almost everyone except the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. I expect that his leadership did significant damage to the party and Sir Keir Starmer has his work cut out to repair the damage.

However, I feel that while many people are pointing the finger of blame for the conflict at the Israeli intelligence service and perhaps their old enemy Iran, I feel we should employ the old adage “cui bono", or who will benefit, from the conflict.

I suggest that the answer is Russia. I expect that both the United States and the UK, who have declared support for Israel during what will probably be a long and difficult war, will have awkward decisions to make. I feel certain that Vladimir Putin will have been working with the enemies of Israel to support Hamas knowing that western leaders may in the long term have to divert some resources which would have been allocated to Ukraine. Indeed I believe the US carrier strike group is already heading towards the eastern Mediterranean.

Commentators on the Ukraine war have often said that the US (and presumably the UK and other Western nations) are at war by proxy with Russia. Since Putin knows that the West will keep putting resources into Ukraine he must realise that anything which will cause a diversion, even a minor one, is to his advantage. I expect that a determining factor is whether the American Congress has a rather stronger Israeli lobby than Ukraine supporters.

Bill Brown, Milngavie.

Read more: We've paid a high price for SNP policies. Now so will they

What happened to old Labour?

Listening to speakers at the Labour Party conference I could not believe that this was the party I supported faithfully for many years before I realised that my nationality was Scottish rather than British and that the political climate south of the Border was one that was threatening to the future wellbeing of our Scottish nation.

First we had David Lammy pledging unqualified support for Israel’s right to defend its territory without a word of concern for the plight of the people of Gaza who live in a prison created by the circumstances through which that Israeli territory was gained.

Next we were assured that Labour had no plans to tax wealth but that it would have “fair” taxation. This presumably refers to the taxation of earned income, which is anything but fair. The first tranche of earned income is free of income tax, allowing employers to get away with paying poverty wages. This is followed by progressively increasing tax rates on higher income bands, meaning that higher earners have to pay the tax unpaid by low earners. Surely fair taxation would tax all earned income at the same rate, removing the tax wall which makes it so unattractive for early retirees to return to the labour force to fill vitally important vacancies and for NHS staff to volunteer for overtime as envisaged in Labour’s latest plans. The focus on economic growth made no reference to the importance of eliminating the poverty wages which require higher earners to fund the in-work benefits and other handouts paid to their less fortunate fellow workers. The tax burden should be shifted from earned income to wealth and unearned income.

Keir Starmer blamed the Tories for bringing about Brexit without a plan; he clearly forgot to mention that his own party was equally culpable in that respect. There was no mention of the disastrous effect of Brexit on the Scottish economy and labour force shortages.

It looks like Labour’s promises amount to nothing more than an ambition to be better and more sweet-smelling Tories than the present lot.

Willie Maclean, Milngavie.