When Israel lost its innocence

Here's a letter to today's Independent exposing the true nature of the State of Israel and the zionist project by way of an anecdote from when Israel was still being portrayed as a state of innocence, pre-1967:

Mary Dejevsky (30 December) calls for sympathy for Israel, a legitimate state living in fear and insecurity. If so, it has only itself to blame. Claiming that its legitimacy derives from its origins in a UN resolution 60 years ago, she ignores the fact that under the British mandate the original inhabitants of Palestine were denied any real choice in the matter.

I was in Israel in the early Sixties, before the June war. The settlers in the kibbutz I worked in had a racist attitude to the local Arab villagers, stealing their produce and denying them a "free market". Being armed to the teeth, the kibbutzniks could get away with it, as have Jewish settlers ever since.

No wonder they live in fear, surrounded by so many resentful cries for vengeance from Hamas.

Nick Howard

Sheffield

Did I mention Dejevsky's article already? It was as disgusting a hasbara piece as you will see these days.

Anyway, it was good to see a letter containing a reminiscence about Israel pre-67, especially about a kibbutz, that wasn't full of "why oh why" nonsense. Well done that man!