Any claim to occupy already occupied land is absurd

THE EDITOR: To claim a divine, or any other, right to occupy an already occupied land on the basis of an old book and religion, or on any other basis, is a height of absurdity and arrogance. To subsequently deny that one is conducting wars and defenses of colonial occupation and expansion is a height of mendacity and demonstrates a profound lack of intellectual and moral integrity, as does the constant depiction and portrayal of the victims of desperate, bloody retaliators as the instigators and perpetrators of the whole hideous, nasty and tragic mess.

These are the facts that are a significant, justified and undeniable cause of much Muslim anger and hostility towards Israel, its Western allies and others and will continue to be so until honesty and some semblance of justice prevails.  Addressing such root causes would be a far more effective and felicitous way of spending the vast amounts of money, efforts and resources directed at the various wars on terror. Of course such colonial arrogance, brutalities and mendacities are nothing new as the existence, denials, recalcitrance and ignorance of Australia and other newer nations demonstrate. Contemporarily, however, they place Israel in such company as India, China, Russia, Sudan, Iraq, Turkey, Indonesia, USA, Guatemala and others. Definitely not very honest, enlightened or developed company.

JOHN FINCH
22 Staley St
Brunswick, 3056, Australia