Madam, - Vincent Browne (Opinion, January 16th) shows perception and insight in picking up on the significance of the statement made by the US president in Jerusalem that "there should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967" ("Bush's new Middle East start", Opinion, January 16th).
However, Mr Browne's claim that "the problem in the Middle East dates back to 1948 when the state of Israel was established on the back of the violent plantation of the lands of Palestine by immigrant Jews" and his characterisation of the immigrants as "invaders" and land-grabbers do not do justice to the historical circumstances which have led to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
It must be remembered that Jews have lived in significant numbers in the land of Israel through all of the centuries which have passed since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army in the year AD 70. Their numbers began to increase considerably during the second half of the 19th century when anti-Semitism in Russia spread westwards across Europe, prompting European Jews to seek a better life elsewhere. A renaissance in Jewish culture, literature and art also boosted immigration into Palestine by Jews from Europe.
The difficulties which these immigrants faced, the willingness with which Arabs sold their land to them and the repeated attempts by the League of Nations to establish two states, one for Jews and one for Arabs, in mandated Palestine must also be acknowledged. Unfortunately, repeated refusals by Arab leaders to accept the Jewish state being proposed by the international community and the precipitate withdrawal of the British before a resolution had been achieved created the conditions for the violence which followed the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948. Since then, wars, political violence and acts of injustice have served only to deepen and complicate the conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Jews.
We can only hope that Bush's "new start", perhaps prompted in part by Tony Blair in his new role as Middle East peacemaker, will create the conditions in which two just causes may be addressed. For a successful outcome, it will be necessary to acknowledge all, and not just some, of the historical circumstances which have helped to create the current situation in Israel/Palestine. - Yours, etc,
Fr PETER J CULLEN, Catholic Chaplain at the University of Sheffield, England.