Danny Wakil, Billinudgel
Ms R Goodchild, I completely agree with your post in last week’s paper in reference to the provocative words thrown in to make Israel look like an evil state. They are almost never fact based and do not contribute towards peace in any way but rather push both sides further apart.
It is curious how Gareth Smith (Letters July 16) laments the medical situation in Gaza, but forgets to mention that during the 2014 Gaza war the Shifa Hospital in Gaza was used as the Hamas command centre, as a rocket launch pad, snipers’ position and weapons storage depot. That same hospital now serves as a cover for Hamas’s underground tunnel system and base for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians – so that when Israel is obliged to respond to Hamas rocket attacks, it’s Hamas who intentionally puts Palestinian civilians in harm’s way.
How tragic that Palestinian civilians are at the mercy of these ruthless terrorist organisations. Let’s not reprimand Israel for taking steps to protect its civilian population against the same evil that prevents the Palestinians from having a better life. These regular anti-Israel posts that we see almost weekly in The Echo don’t contribute towards peace in any way. I am pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian and pro-peace.
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. 
