RE the latest drivel to appear on the letters page over the crisis in the Middle East, this time by Malcolm Pittock. (First justice, then peace in the Mid East? August 9).

It is somewhat perturbing that I read letters with a certain anti-Semitic ring to them. Mr Pittock’s latest is no exception. The untruths spewed forth is — if it wasn’t so disturbing — most laughable.

Firstly, he is no historian, otherwise he would know that there is no such entity as “Palestinian land” and there can be no illegal occupation by Israel.

The lands that Mr Pittock refers to as “illegally occupied” were captured fair and square by the Israelis during the 1967 six-day war: the Gaza strip from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan heights from Syria, after these three countries had decided to launch a pre-emptive strike to wipe out the state of Israel.

It didn’t quite work out as planned and these undemocratic, aggressive nations where soundly beaten by the only democratic nation in the region — Israel.

Mr Pittock continues to claim the West has allowed Israel to acquire nuclear weapons and not other countries in the Middle East. Israel is a technologically developed democracy that has been able to procure its own independent nuclear deterrent.

The undemocratic, despotic regimes have been unable to do so and, thankfully, it seems it is unlikely the Israelis will allow these countries to develop and deploy these or other weapons of mass destruction.

I would add that the downing of an Iranian airliner some years ago by the United States was not a deliberate act, as indicated by Mr Pittock.

The Americans did apologise to the Iranians for this tragic blunder and paid reparations to relatives of the victims.

And, rightly, the Americans have not apologised to the Japanese for dropping the atomic bombs on Japan which ended World War II, just as Japan did not apologise for starting things off by bombing Pearl Harbour.

Finally, I feel obliged to correct Mr Pittock’s ludicrous remarks that sanctions by the West were responsible for the high infant mortality rates in Iraq.

This is pure nonsense. The fault lies with the Iraqi dictatorship. Only they were responsible for atrocities committed against their own people.

In all of the letters condemning the Israelis, not one has condemned the atrocities committed by Hamas — not only with their rocket and terrorist attacks, but also the horrendous atrocities they perpetrate against their own people.

Stuart A Chapman Isle of Wight