Israel backtracks

Christine Jardine MSP is quite right to raise concerns about Islamaphobia, racism and anti-semitism (Scotsman, 4 April). It is nasty, it is wrong.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen Russian diplomats expelled across the world because of the attemptedmurder sin salisbury. Last Friday saw the killing of 18, and the wounding of a thousand Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza. As far as I can discern, there has been no reaction by the British government. Are Muslim lives so worthless?

Over the last few years, Germany has taken around a million asylum seekers, many other countries have thrown their doors open, albeit to a lesser extent, including Scotland. Let us contrast this with the plan reported in this newspaper for Israel to deport African asylum seekers, many from Sudan, (Scotsman, 3 April), sending more than 16,000 migrants to various Western countries willing to take them, and in exchange offer temporary stays in Israel for 16,000 more. However, the latest news is that this has been scrapped – not because homes in the West could not be found but because the Israeli PM’S coalition partners in government were not willing to offer any of the asylum seekers even temporary rights to stay in Israel. Is this not shocking for a country whose very existence was based on being a safe home for those suffering persecution?

PHIL TATE Craiglockhart Road, Edinburgh