Astounding distortion of fact and history

I OBJECT strongly to Steven King’s column (January 7). The distortion of fact and history that it embodies is astounding.

To take just one glaring example, Hamas did not break the recent ceasefire — Israel did when it killed six people in November at the end of what had been six months of serious attempts by Hamas to engage in a dialogue and during which time Gazans were still coping with horrendous living conditions imposed on them by Israel.

As with Iran and the US, Hamas has repeatedly sought to enter into genuine negotiation and dialogue — they are not the evil terrorists of popular (and racist) caricature.

It is now apparent that Israel was planning this murderous assault throughout the recent ceasefire and then engineered a provocation which it knew Hamas and the Palestinians, strained beyond human endurance, were more than likely to respond to — unless it is the view of sane, rational people that the Palestinians should simply roll over and die quietly for the convenience of Israel’s expansionist objectives in the region.

If Mr King is going to write about the situation he at least ought to get his facts right and not, as it seems, rely exclusively on press releases and information emanating from the Israeli defence forces or similar sources.

Israel is a country founded on a lie as even its first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, tacitly acknowledged before he died.

The suggestion that the Palestinians and their democratically elected government, Hamas, are responsible for Israel’s violence towards them is simply unforgiveable.

Miriam Cotton

Woodlands

Clonakilty

Co Cork