Letter: Keep Palestine out of Libyan debate

I REFER to the short piece "Clash 'shows need for Israel-Palestine deal'" (News, 20 March) in which it was stated that the conflict in Libya highlighted the need to find a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Does it really? This doesn't appear to be the view of opponents of the Libyan despot, nor did it seem to be the view of placard-carrying crowds in Tunisia and Egypt, nor in Bahrain and the Yemen.

When we watch these popular uprisings unfold we see people calling for freedom and an end to corruption. They march for democracy and for jobs. The people have marched against Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gaddafi, and corrupt monarchs. They haven't carried placards demanding a solution to the Palestine- Israel conflict.

Of course a solution to Israel's security has to be found, just as a solution has to be found to the decades long Kashmir problem, and for the human rights of minorities oppressed by China, not least the rights of Tibetans. It would have been good too if western interest, lamentation and hand-wringing had been extended to the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

While Ed Miliband's address to the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow may have been music to the ears of our pro-Palestine lobby, the Israel-Palestine conflict is far from the minds of men and women in the streets of North Africa.

Dr Graeme D Eddie, Dunbar