Readers' Letters: Joe Biden must act now to stop Gaza slaughter

The killing of seven international aid workers in Gaza by an Israeli air strike has caused outrage and prompted The Scotsman editorial yesterday in support of an immediate ceasefire. It is worth pointing out that hundreds of aid workers and medical staff have already been killed by Israel, as well as tens of thousands of civilians. What began as a justified response to the atrocity of 7 October has clearly become a sadistic orgy of revenge.

President Joe Biden should use his influence to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, says reader (Picture: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Israel, however, has ignored all calls for a ceasefire, including that of the UN Security Council.

There is one man who could stop the bloodshed immediately with a single phone call. That man is President Joe Biden. His requests for restraint have been contemptuously ignored by Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extreme right wing government. Biden must now act immediately to cut off the supply of weapons and military aid which funds the Israeli war machine. This will be difficult in an election year, but it is the only action which will make Israel stop the killing.

Robert Cairns, Ceres, Fife

Time to go?

Tim Flinn (Letters, 2 April) suggests limiting assisted dying to those who have already lived their “threescore years and ten”, a phrase that comes from Psalm 90:10. But the verse continues to state that “And if by reason of strength they be forescore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow”.Today, 80 years is not as unusual as it may have been in the time of the Psalmist, something to be welcomed. Regardless, it is difficult to see why age should have anything to do with the need to end one's life. That need might arise at any time.

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh

Democracy dead?

Is it actually possible to live in a real democracy and not have free speech? When anything you say might be subject to scrutiny by the authorities, it has a chilling effect on all aspects of human intercourse, whether it be political comment, badinage, comedy, historical analysis or any other aspect of normal life.

If I insult someone the person in question is perfectly at liberty to inform on me, rather than simply responding in kind, as grown-ups do. There will be plenty of places in which she inform, too. Totalitarian regimes specialise in such things, which are regarded as a public good, to maintain social cohesion. Democracy, on the other hand, thrives on argument and polemic.

Edmund Burke was once told that he would either die by the hangman's noose or of the pox. He replied that that depended upon whether he embraced his accuser's principles or his mistress. Can you imagine such repartee in present-day Scotland?

If a regime aims to support one particular characteristic, it is easy to demonise anyone who does not subscribe to that belief. If men (or women, for that matter), for the sake of argument, wish to be regarded as dogs and to wear no clothes, bark a lot and sniff other people's trousers, some of us would think they were what were once called “nut cases” (but clearly can't be now). That is the sort of insanity which is now protected by a deeply flawed law.

If someone maintains that he is actually Napoleon, are we duty-bound to hand over western Europe to him to rule?

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” wrote Shakespeare. Except it isn't Denmark. It is Scotland. And what a stink.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Logjam

It has been reported that in the first 48 hours of the new hate crime law there have been over 3,000 complaints logged. This works out at 63 reports per hour. Given that Police Scotland has said that every complaint will be logged and investigated, and, on the basis that each investigation takes 15 minutes, I reckon the time needed to cover the first two days’ calls will be over 90 man days.

Does Humza Yousaf honestly believe this is the best use of police time?

Jim Houston, Edinburgh

Chicken run

I fully support the idea of a ban on keeping chickens in cages. Reportedly, the Scottish Government preference would be to implement such a ban from 2034. My fear is that production would simply move to countries like India which don't have a ban, where production costs would be lower.

Geoff Moore, Alness, Highland

Broad church

Police Scotland have determined that JK Rowling did not commit an offence in her tweets on Monday. Having looked in detail at what the hate crime law says, that is not a surprise. Misgendering people on social media, for example, is not in itself a crime.

In her tweet thread, Ms Rowling posted photographs of blameless trans women, alongside those of a rapist and other sex offenders. That seems to suggest that they are all somehow similar, because they are all trans.For perspective, that's like tweeting photos of gay men like me, or perhaps Graham Norton and Ian McKellen, alongside photos of murderers Stephen Port and Jeffrey Dahmer, suggesting that we are all similar because we are all gay.

JK Rowling's tweets seemed to be designed to offend and to provoke anger and upset. They did not reach the criminal threshold, but they do not reflect well on her.

Tim Hopkins, Edinburgh

Distraction

All the attention on the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act threatens to derail combating the much bigger problem of anti-social behaviour. This scourge permeates Scottish society like never before. Whether it’s violence in the classroom, hospitals, shops, football grounds or homes, such behaviour is getting out of control.

While the Government has legislated against what many see as a basic right to freedom of speech it has done little to combat anti-social behaviour following assaults on emergency services through misuse of fireworks in November. We were told then by community safety minister Siobhian Brown that she would personally convene a working group, but perhaps she has been too busy with the hate crime legislation and banning XL bully dogs to provide one of the promised “regular updates”.

A FOI request has revealed that the working group is being chaired by experts from two agencies heavily reliant on Scottish Government funding, one of which, the Scottish Community Safety Network, will lose half of its funding this year. This should tell us something about Government priorities. All organisations employing members represented in the “independent” working group are or have been funded at least in part by the Scottish Government. While members were invited in a personal capacity it’s hard to see how the report will be truly independent from Government influence when published by year’s end.

We owe it to our children and future generations to have a completely independent strategy to combat antisocial behaviour led by top experts from across sectors, free from political influence to ensure key recommendations are enshrined in law. Only then will our children grow up safe in the knowledge they are adequately protected from this scourge on society.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Vaguely insulting

I see that referring to national origins comes under the new law. Presumably therefore, if I call someone an “Idiot” I am exercising free speech, but if I call them an “English Idiot” I have committed a hate crime!

R Campbell, Tigh-ur, Perthshire

Sunak hypocrisy

Rishi Sunak has defended JK Rowling. He said in response to her objections to the Scottish Hate Crime Bill that the Tories were on the side of "free speech". Sunak brought in the Draconian Public Order Act 2023. Police promptly used it to arrest 65 peaceful protesters during the Coronation.

His Home Secretary Suella Braverman branded lawful protesters calling for an end to the genocidal slaughter in Gaza “hate marchers”.

Michael Gove is currently redefining the definition of extremism. Things have gotten so bad the UN and Human Rights Watch have both accused the UK Government of an attack on fundamental democratic rights.

It is within this context that the “opposition” to the Scottish Hate Crime Bill by the “Scottish” Tories should be seen. Like everything the Tories do, it is entirely self-serving and hypocritical. The Bill, however, is an authoritarian abomination. It is illiberal, poorly thought, is open to severe misuse and it stifles debate. It was another piece of knee jerk legislation thought up by Nicola Sturgeon to be “progressive”.

Alan Hinnrichs, Dundee

Headline act

Huw Edwards, the BBC's highest-paid newsreader, is still being paid his £439,000 salary despite being suspended in July 2023. Why should licence payers be forced to pay a licence fee which is then used to subsidise his suspension.

As from 6 April 2024 the rate of Statutory Sick Pay will be £116.75 a week so if this is good enough for the masses then it should be good enough for Huw Edwards. His salary payment should be stopped immediately and statutory sick pay substituted.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Not seeing red

Despite its caption, the photograph accompanying the article “Red Admiral Butterfly had its best ever year in Scotland last year” (3 April) is of a Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly, not a Red Admiral.

Peter Freshwater, Edinburgh

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