Bent on destruction

On May22 in Swindon we witnessed many hundreds marching in support of the Palestinians in Gaza and against Israel.

When I saw this march on the SA website and the chanting that ensued I was immediately reminded of the quote from Joseph Goebbels: "If you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself"

This march epitomised that, as blatant lies were propagated as truth, the tragedy of it all is that all those who marched actually blindly believed it and then presented this lie to the rest of us as fact..a lie that has fuelled vile Jew hatred attacks in North London.

"From the river to the sea-Palestine will be free"-do these marchers really know what they are saying? They are calling for the complete destruction of Israel and to achieve that they would have to annihilate the Jewish people. Is that what they want - Genocide?

One of the ironic aspects that arises from those who support this mantra is LGBT + groups. Don't they know that in Gaza if you are gay you will either be imprisoned,underground or dead?

"Israel is a terror state"-another lie. Have those that marched conveniently forgotten that it was the terrorist organisation Hamas that instigated this present conflict culminating in the firing of over 4,000 missiles into Israel when they deliberately whipped up a land dispute in Jerusalem and used this as a pretext to bring terror to Israel. Were it not for the Iron Dome there would have been thousands dead. No nation would be expected to put up with rockets raining down on its civilians without taking action to stop it.

Yes, there is real suffering in Gaza,but when this organisation hides its weapons in densely populated areas and fires them from schools, hospitals and mosques, using their population as human shields, it presents Israel with a huge problem.

How tragic that the Hamas leadership continues to prioritize the destruction of the Jewish state to the ongoing harm of the Palestinian people. How different things could be if those leaders genuinely sought a mutually beneficial peace agreement with Israel. It would mean thriving rather than surviving for the inhabitants of Gaza.

Israel is not above criticism and I am not saying that all its actions towards Palestinians have been right, but what I do know is that Israel has no intentions of driving out the Palestinians. I also realise that, with the average age of Palestinians in Gaza being just 18, a large part of the population has grown up with the misguided understanding that the Zionists are evil monsters bent on destroying themwhile Hamas represents liberation.

Hamas is actually the enemy of the Palestinian people and their policies will continue leading only to destruction and death.

As a follower of Jesus, I do care about the wellbeing of both Palestinians and Israelis', so my hope and prayer would be for courageous peace loving leaders in Gaza to arise, and then I am sure that Israel, for its part, would respond very positively.

Steve Jack

Parsonage Court

Highworth

Inexcusable behaviour

I agree with Steven Blanchard, I too wonder why Harry and Megan left England. We were told they left for a quieter life! To treat your family in this way, to give an interview that went world-wide, when his grandfather was so ill was inexcusable. He told us that he loved his grandfather and grandmother very much. He is not speaking privately about his life and he seems to be enjoying the limelight and he is upsetting his family. What has he got to gain?

I think the people in England have had enough of him, whingeing. Will he ever come back? I for one hope not.

I think that William will make a great King with Kate by his side.

Janet Woodham

Scotby Avenue