World too quick to judge Israeli actions

What has been witnessed against Israeli troops is nothing but a media circus and a feeding frenzy of hatred among the nations, the media and the Arab/Islamic world.

I have felt ashamed at the comments emanating from elements of our government, public and media, which have served to vilify and delegitimise Israel at every turn.

References have been made to Nazi behaviour and the Holocaust as if the public want another one, amid a seeming tantrum that the Jews will no longer go quietly to their doom.

The activists on this flotilla had sworn to react peacefully to any boarding, as they did on five of the six vessels. Israeli troops approached the remaining vessel in like manner to the others, only to find an armed mob waiting for them.

If they had gone in mob-handed upon a peaceful demonstration the world would have condemned them. If they went in with basic crowd control methods and were greeted with violence they would have been ridiculed, as they were. The world was going to "damn Israel if they did or if they didn't". Conspicuous by it's absence is any such criticism of the flotilla, it's organisers or it's agenda.

D ROBERTS

Tredega

Gwent

There is plenty of evidence that the Israel marines attempting to board the Mavi Marmara rapelled into an ambush. Even the BBC has shown videos of the incident which indicate that the Israelis, who carried paintball guns, were viciously set upon with knives, slingshots and poles and were later fired on with weapons snatched from them. They were eventually forced to fire their pistols in self-defence.

The West has gullibly swallowed the lie that these hardline militants with ties to Hamas were "peace" activists. We have handed the forces of hatred and bigotry the propaganda victory they sought.

L JULIUS

Bina Gardens

London

Even before the military encounter with the IDF, the intention of the Gaza flotilla to provoke an international incident was clearly stated by one of the participants who declared in a TV interview "Gaza or martyrdom". Less subtle, as seen on Al-Jazeera on 29 May was the call invoking the killing of Jews. The purity of their humanitarian intention was also exploded by their refusal to accept a letter to be conveyed to the Israeli kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit, held by Hamas in Gaza to whom access by the International Red Cross has been barred.

Whilst not wishing to understate the tragic outcome of the Gaza flotilla, there is a need for rational thinking instead of the customary knee-jerk condemnation of Israel.

M GREEN

Ayr Road

Glasgow

What appears certain is that Israel's much lauded and feared special forces were strangely ill-prepared for the reaction on one of the boats they boarded. The resultant deaths are deeply disturbing but in many ways understandable if the footage of some of the ''aid mission'' personnel furiously beating the descending soldiers with bars is viewed. Where was the non-violent, ''passive resistance'' that we were told to expect?

That there was a terrorist element among those delivering aid is incontestable. That many of those on board the boats were well-meaning and well-intentioned is also clear. That many of these well- meaning people were starry-eyed dupes used by a more sinister movement to provoke exactly what transpired is equally clear.

The Israelis will not give in on this; they see what they did as protecting their country and they need lose only once and they will cease to exist – surrounded at they are by vastly larger, hostile countries many of them anxious to see them ''wiped off the map''.

ALEXANDER McKAY

New Cut Rigg

Edinburgh

Joy Wolfe (Letters, 2 June) writes that it was necessary for Israel to "forcibly stop the publicity-seeking convoy". The irony is that, had the convoy been able to reach Gaza uninterrupted, it would have garnered little more than a few column inches. The worldwide publicity it has now attracted is entirely due to the actions of Israel.

PHILIP JONES

Shore

Edinburgh