I have long been a supporter of Israel's right to exist and of the United State's defence of Israel, given the neighbourhood in which it is located. I still believe in Israel's right to exist but must condemn their inhumane and genocidal treatment of the Palestinian.

Life in the Gaza strip is hopeless and futile. With the imprisonment of the Palestinian people in Gaza no wonder they have to lash out at their tormentors. As Winston Churchill felt during the Nazi onslaught during WWII and so ably expressed by our own great Claude McKay:

"If we must die, let it not be like hogs hunted and penned in an inglorious spot.

Like men we'll face the murde-rous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!"

This must be how the Palestinians are feeling.

Jamaica must let its voice be heard standing up for the oppressed, just as it did before for Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.

I am, etc.,

RICHARD SAULSBERRY

richiedread@netscape.net

Ft Lauderdale, Florida