No connection between Saudi deaths and Israel

Am I alone in failing to understand the connection between Edward Horgan’s opening remarks (January 13) “Following the execution of 47 men in Saudi Arabia on January 2, the situation in the Middle East is deteriorating” and the remainder of his letter unless he wishes to imply that Israel was ultimately responsible for their deaths?

He is incorrect to claim the UNDOF Golan mission “was intended to supervise the return of Israeli occupied Golan Heights to Syria”.

Its mission was to maintain the ceasefire until a negotiated settlement could be reached.

With the situation in Syria, this seems more a pious wish than a potential reality.

His final comment that “significant quantities of oil have been discovered in the Israeli-occupied part of the Syrian Golan Heights” is meaningless unless he believes that all oil in the Middle East is intrinsically Arab.

Martin D Stern

Salford, England