John Scrivener, Main Arm
R Goodchild (Letters, July 25) doesn’t want to see words like genocide and apartheid used to describe conduct of the Zionist regime, because they ‘stir up hatred against Israel’. Of course it’s not the words but the conduct itself that provokes outrage at Israel. The truth is no words can fully convey the horrors that Israel has inflicted upon the people of Palestine.
Israel has meant the permanent military occupation of Palestine, the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinian lands, the ongoing destruction of Palestinian homes and villages, routine assassinations and disappearances of Palestinian leaders, relentless persecution of the Palestinian people. Sure, words can hurt our feelings but they can’t sever limbs or level homes.
Apologists for Israel always want to blame the victims and attack any who dare criticise the Zionist regime. They seem to think it’s perfectly okay to slaughter Palestinians, steal their land and call them terrorists, but it’s not okay to point out that Israel meets the definition of an apartheid regime.
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. 
