Setting the record straight

A LETTER to the editor does not afford the space to debunk every point erroneously made in the letters this week from Anne Candlin and Jeremy Hawthorne but, by way of illustration, far from being a state that: “openly endorsed the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the theft of Palestinian lands . . . etc,” Israel is the only free democratic state in the region where every citizen has the right to vote; where the state upholds unrepealed 19th-century Ottoman laws that provide for the continued existence of Palestinian religious, educational and charitable organisations; where there is a free press and judiciary, where freedom of religion is guaranteed in law, and where Islamic law is acknowledged by the state as the law of the land in various civil matters; and where the Palestinians have, through the Wakf religious endowments, complete control over the Muslim holy places to the extent that Jews are legally restricted in their rights to enter places holy to both religions such as the Temple Mount and the Tombs of the Prophets.

As for not being allowed to travel from Damascus to Israel, this route is no problem; however, the reverse route requires an application for a second British passport.

The drop in the Christian population is due to a tide of anti-Christian feeling engendered by the worldwide rise in extremist Islam. To try to claim that both Muslims and Christians are being driven from the land ignores the fact that Muslim and Christian Arabs formed 19% of the population of Israel (excluding the territories) at the end of 2000, which is rising towards its projection of 25% by 2025.

None of this is to deny that there is injustice in Israel, as there is in the wider region, where, as a Jew, we are officially and openly unwelcome in any country bar Jordan and Egypt, and from most of which the centuries-old Jewish populations have long since departed through massacre or lucky escape.

Michael and Riva Levitt, via email

Wrong approach

ANNE CANDLIN is correct to question Sir Paul McCartney’s plans to give a concert in Israel and to highlight the injustices committed against the Palestinians (Letter, “Concert Dismay”, September 8).

However, her asking: “How can any right-minded human being commemorate such savagery” is not the way to raise people’s awareness of the issues.

Michael Kingsman, Liverpool 8

City home

AS SOMEONE very interested in the Mersey’s maritime heritage, I have been to view progress with the former German WWII submarine U 534, which has now been sectioned at Birkenhead.

Seen in close-up, its poor condition is obvious, and Merseytravel’s chief executive Neil Scales' solution has undoubtedly saved the sub from the scrapyard (a tempting option, given the current value of steel scrap), after the collapse of Birkenhead’s Historic Warships Collection.

But we no longer have a recognisable U-boat. We can only hope that at some time it will be recreated as such; however, there is little room for this at its present location.

My perception that the view of the interior of the vessel after sectioning would be much obstructed by bulkheads has been borne out.

The Birkenhead site is still clearly off the beaten track – no-one else was taking in the sight of the several pieces of U534 – although numbers should increase on completion of the museum project, and its advertising.

I still maintain, nonetheless, that the best option in the long term is to take the now readily transportable sections to Canning Dock for re-assembly.

Located there, U534 would be seen by many thousands daily and be a stark reminder of the Battle of the Atlantic, failing the return of HMS Whimbrel to become the official memorial ship.

The siting in Liverpool would also be bound to stimulate much more interest in the nearby Western Approaches HQ and Battle of the Atlantic museum, a cause I am pleased to see Peter Elson has influentially taken up with the National Trust.

Ron Hall, via email

Blue meanies

I IMPLORE the hierarchy at Anfield not to be taken in by local politicians whose main interest is to do what’s best for EFC. Namely a shared stadium. Normally they are making petty comments about each other on local radio or through newspapers, but when soccer is the subject they become buddies once again and everything else is secondary.

Everton supporters claim they are the oldest team in the city, but despite this, when a new stadium site was made available to them at the Kings Dock, they were unable to come up with a paltry sum to take up the offer. Instead, they have continued to approach Liverpool FC to share a ground with them, even though they won’t allow their own reserve team to share Goodison Park with them.

George Mason, Garston

Train ordeal

ISN’T it about time Merseyrail introduced a “quiet zone” like Virgin Trains do? This morning, I was in a carriage at 8.30am and had the misfortune to occupy a seat near three people wearing “personal” headphones.

There was nothing personal about the music they were listening to.

The whole journey was an ordeal. If it’s not a form of persuasion utilised by modern dictatorships around the world, they should definitely look into it.

And don’t even get me started on mobile phone music downloads, or whatever you call them.

Ticket inspectors are assiduous enough when it comes to checking we have paid for our journeys Wouldn’t it be nice if they took equal pains to ensure our travel is not made miserable by anti-social music players?

D Studley, Formby

About time

IT’S great news that Labour’s Frank Field and Conservative Nick Soames are joining together to form an all parties committee in a fight against non-EU immigration.

With illegal asylum seekers reaching 1m, one only has to walk the streets of Liverpool to see the effect.

Our schools are full, hospitals in crisis, unemployment is high and, with so many arriving, we are going to have to build a few more towns the size of Formby to cope. So much for Labour’s Australian points system.

M Matthews, Liverpool 13

A triumph

I WOULD just like to say how much I enjoyed La Machine at the weekend.

I have never experienced anything like it, and thought it was absolutely wonderful.

I went to see La Princess on the Friday night when she took a bath in Salthouse Dock, and again on Sunday when she left via the Mersey Tunnel.

It was a wonderful show and Liverpool Culture Company should be proud of arranging it, just as the French company should be proud of its creation.

The spectacle itself would have been enough for me but I was pleased to read in the Daily Post (September 9) that it also made £70m for the city in terms of positive publicity.

Surely now nobody in their right mind could criticise La Machine, which soldiered on despite the bad weather.

I for one will be ordering photographs of La Princess from your paper to frame and put on the wall of my home to remind me of what a great weekend it truly was.

Mrs Harper, Aigburth

Conspiracy

CAN someone please tell me what Lewis Hamilton has to do to be given a break by the FIA? This young man has worked his socks off for two seasons in Formula One, yet it does seem like someone somewhere has it in for him.

Yes, he has made mistakes, but he has been more than penalised for them; you don’t see other drivers getting such harsh reprimands when they do something wrong. There are lots of whispers now around Formula One, of conspiracies and the likes, and you can’t blame people for feeling that way.

If Lewis does take the title at the end of this Formula One season, his victory will no doubt be even sweeter for all he has had to triumph against.

Harry Taylor, Billinge

Giant success

WELL done to everyone involved in bringing La Princess to Liverpool over the weekend.

My parents were staying with me over the weekend and I brought them into the city centre to see the giant spider on Saturday afternoon.

Even though the crowds were much bigger than I had anticipated, everyone seemed to be having a good time and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of a 50ft spider making its way down Castle Street.

I’m glad that the Capital of Culture year has included events like these that can get everyone involved.

C Jones, Wavertree

Good news

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who helped bring the spider to Liverpool at the weekend. I came into the city both days and, even though I spent a lot of time hanging about waiting with a couple of over-excited children, it was worth the wait.

This was a truly inclusive spectacle which cost us nothing to see and which brought thousands of people together. It also appears to have given national newspapers and news programmes a story about Liverpool that, try as they might, they could not put a negative spin on.

T Owens, Southport

Killjoy

RE: THE spider from France. With the technical wizardry of a 60s seaside rocking horse and the excitement factor of an Alice in Wonderland kiddies’ tea-cup merry-go-round, this £1.8m waltzer perched on the back of a low-tech 70s cherry-picker was hardly rocket science. It was, however, a great smoke and mirrors spectacle designed to give maximum fun and pleasure to small children and the technically bewildered.

I look forward to picking up the tab on my next rates bill: that is, after having lodged my compensation claim for spider-induced trauma.

B Carroll (village killjoy), Toxteth