YET again the world looks on in horror as Israel commits more war crimes, killing babies, children and civilians who were told to move into refugee camps only to find themselves the latest victims of Israel’s war crimes.
As usual the mainstream media – especially the BBC – are complicit in Israel’s attacks. Everything said by Israel is taken as accepted while everything from the Palestinian side are “claims”. We’re still waiting for the BBC to provide full coverage of the constant lies from Israel such the beheaded babies (no proof), the targeted attacks on Hamas leaders (which destroy hospitals, schools and refugee camps) and of course the complaint about Hamas operatives running the UN Relief and Works Agency (months have passed and Israel have still not provided any evidence of these claims).
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Anyone believing Israel’s lies is either stupid or complicit in supporting these war crimes. We have to ask in the forthcoming General Election, are Sunak and and Starmer stupid or are they acting as supporters for genocide? Either way it means neither is fit to be the next Prime Minister.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
HOW many more innocent women and children are the world going to permit the genocidal Israelis to exterminate? A refugee camp in Rafah deliberately set on fire, and the psychopaths in Netanyahu’s government say “it was an unfortunate mistake”. How many more mistakes is Palestine to endure before the crazies in Tel Aviv are stopped? Stop providing arms to Israel. Ceasefire NOW!
I am not anti-Semitic, I am anti-genocide.
Margaret Forbes
Blantyre
THOSE people campaigning for the dualling of the A9 seem to forget what the A9 was like in the 1970s when it passed through every town and hamlet on the way between Perth and Inverness and driving along it was a nightmare at peak times. Now we have a road which has been significantly upgraded on a new alignment over its entire length from Perth to Inverness and which bypasses all the communities on the way. Unfortunately, the vogue at the time was to design according to the concept of Highway Link Design, which resulted in a series of long, flowing curves – beautiful to look at but a nightmare for overtaking in the direction such that you were on the inside of the curve – particularly if it was large vehicle in front. It is not surprising that impatient motorists continue to be caught out.
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Compare this road with the A82 north of Tyndrum and on through Glencoe. This road was upgraded in the 1930s based on long straights with short, relatively tight bends – plenty of opportunity for motorists in both directions to check the road ahead before attempting to overtake. However, reference to the A82 raises another issue –the desperate need for upgrade on the section along the side of Loch Lomond north of Tarbert. Here the road is so twisty and narrow that when two trucks meet, they find it very difficult to pass each other far less overtake. Yet this is part of the vital route linking the Central Belt of Scotland to the ferry terminals at Oban and Mallaig which serve the island communities off the west coast.
Of course at one time, all such road improvements would have been eligible for EU funding. I know because I used to work for Strathclyde Regional Council. We were responsible for maintaining and improving trunk roads and ferry infrastructure, and we were very successful in securing funding from the EU.
My message to the campaigners for the dualling of the A9 is to be thankful that you have what you have already got because there are other parts of Scotland which would be pleased to have a full, high-standard single carriageway upgrade to their roads – eg the A1 between Edinburgh and Berwick or the A75 between Gretna and Cairnryan.
Ian Lawson
Milngavie
RHODA Meek was spot-on when she pointed out that the census data on Gaelic is pretty much meaningless (Census missed the hard questions and hard truths needed on Gaelic, May 26). I hope our new Minister for Gaelic finds out what the situation is, and doesn’t repeat the similarly useless figure she gave when she claimed that 20% in Islay and Jura are Gaelic speakers.
Though there are still a few of us who can speak Gaelic, it’s dead in Islay, and has been dead in Jura for decades. The so-called “Gaelic College” in Islay was set up as a learning centre, but no-one has passed an exam there in nearly 20 years, no short courses have run in nearly as long, and its poor translation attempt resulted in a council sign having to be replaced. The centre runs mainly as a village hall and cafe.
Two elderly women recently illustrated the situation perfectly. After greeting each other in Gaelic they moved immediately to English and, oblivious to the irony, said in English how important Gaelic is and how they would do everything they could to make sure it didn’t die!
If we don’t admit the problem, we can’t find a solution.
Mairead Mackechnie
Isle of Islay
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