January 17, 2003

I WOULD like to express my sincere appreciation to the writer of the letter to you signed "Observer" (Mid-Ocean News, January 17) and to you for printing it.

It is the first time I recall a comprehensive account of the origin of the Palestine/Israel situation printed anywhere.

No longer can any one plead ignorance of the root cause of the occupation of Palestine by the Israelis and supported by the $3.3 billion subsidies from the US annually.

How much of this supports the imprisonment of countless thousands of Palestinian without trial, or in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction I do not know, but those activities are costly.

I would presume to add that Washington is not overly concerned with Jewish voters per se as the Jewish population of the US of six million is only two per cent of the total and equals the six million in the illegally occupied land in Palestine called Israel.

Even allowing for the religious right extremists, the real problem lies with the Israel/American lobby. So powerful is this lobby relative to the Jewish population, that it not only influences policy in the Mid East, it often dictates it. In fact some of the key figures in the US State Department are active Zionists who have been publicly honoured for their contribution to the movements.

A deep analysis of the formation and membership of this lobby and its overt connections to the Zionist movement is most revealing and shows the need for lobbying reform.

How this lobby is funded and supported is an example of duplicity par excellence. All intelligent people with a conscience will recognise its raison d'etre.

I confess I am not totally without an agenda here with reference to "Observer's" comments on the Irish situation.

Queen Victoria's "dear old Dizzy" Benjamin Disraeli, her beloved Prime Minister, said: "The Irish hate our order, our civilisation, our enterprising industry, our pure religion. Ironically, Disraeli, a Jew of Spanish descent, abandoned Judiaism to embrace the Church of England, no doubt to further his political ambitions and delighted "the little Queen" by presenting her with India.

At this precise time at the zenith of the British Empire and Victorian wealth and prosperity up to two million Irish men, women and children died of starvation and associated diseases.

When noted English historian Charles Kingsley referred to this calamity, he said: "I am daunted by the human chimpanzees I saw along that hundred miles of horrible country . . . I believe that they are happier and more comfortably fed and lodged under our rule than they ever were, but to see white chimpanzees is dreadful. If they were black one would not feel it quite so much, but their skins (were) tanned by exposure (and) are as white as ours."

It is difficult for me to see how a privileged, educated man could think like that.

I write this only to illustrate the cause and consequence of human behaviour. This view of Ireland - not uncommon in the 19th century - may explain why so many Irish go to Africa's famine stricken countries to assist and why Irish entertainers like Bono from U2 and Bob Geldof (an Irish Jew, pictured above) raise so much money for Band Aid and other causes in Africa.

It is also to explain my somewhat inadequate attempts to focus attention on the plight of the Palestinians.

BILL COOK

Paget

PS: It would be greatly appreciated by myself and many others if a full and comprehensive Opinion were to be printed in your newspaper on the entire Mid-East area as it affects the entire world in a most profound way, and few people now have any confidence in the news media in general. Again, I applaud your printing "Observer's" letter.