It’s always fascinating to read the often misguided notions of people like Gareth Smith as they assert the existence of this fictional place called Palestine (Letters, Byron Shire Echo, October 14). Palestine was a Roman abstract, a name for a province administered by Rome from Rome until it became part of the Ottoman Empire. Then when the British defeated the Ottomans and took over the area as a mandate they resurrected the Roman name Palestine. And if Gareth Smith cared to read what I last wrote he would see the word ‘duplicitous’ describing the Arabs, which means they play both sides of the field. But being anti-Israel and anti-American, he obviously sees everything through his tainted glasses.
M Mizzi , Ocean Shores
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
