Peter Clery (October 9) says we should have more of St George’s flag. Great! But he then says “… and less of Palestine.” I disagree with him there. Why? Because a good deal of the turmoil in the Middle East and what I see as the victimisation of the Palestinians is a direct consequence of British action over 100 years ago.
To avoid misunderstanding: I deplore the events of October 2023 and the recent attack on Jews in Manchester, and I condemn anti-Semitism here or anywhere else. I strongly condemn Israel, but that is because of what Israel and its progenitor the Zionist movement has done, not because they are Jewish.
‘Palestine’ was a recognised country for over 1,000 years, with general amity between its majority Arab and minority Jewish populations. Ancient Israel might have existed in that area, but I don’t think modern Zionism had a legitimate title to the country. It was therefore a matter of aggression when in 1917, the Zionists, with British connivance, set out to ‘colonise’ the country and displace the native population. That was succeeded by a full partition and reformation of Israel, with the stated intention of taking all of Palestine over time.
I believe the primary aggression for over 100 years has been by the Zionist movement and Israel. The Palestinians have been the victims. I visited Palestine and Israel a number of times in the 1990s. The sustained persecution of the Palestinians by the Israelis was all too plain to see. For one visit, my wife and I tagged on to group of British Jews, who had organised a tour of Palestine. By the end of the tour, the Jewish group were plainly distressed at what they saw had been done to the Palestinians. One man was in tears.
Given the above, I am very happy to see the Palestinian flag flown in support of a people whose tragedy owes much to that earlier British action.
John Tippler
Spalding
