Columnist should get real and try living in Gaza

HAVING read Steven King’s column (January 7), I can only conclude he has never been to the occupied Palestinian territories and conducted his research by visiting Israeli websites.

I visited the West Bank last November and I would like to paint a different picture.

First off, the Israeli state was instrumental in setting up Hamas. Learning from the British, they decided that a unified Palestine under Yasser Arafat did not serve their best interests — so they set out to divide and conquer. The success of the scheme was shown when Hamas won the last Palestinian election. However, it was not allowed get on with the job of administering the territories. Many Palestinians I spoke to were disappointed with the world’s boycott of Hamas — they were confident that, left to run the place, Hamas would show itself every bit as corrupt and incompetent as Fatah.