James Hutchings: I'm not anti-Israel
Dear Editor, May I respond to the personal criticism in the Iron Angle column (Birmingham Post, March 6).
I am certainly no maverick. I am a mainstream Progressive Conservative committed to continuously improving services in the city and to fiscal discipline.
The council is investing more than £500million in Business Transformation to deliver better services and to save £1billion over 10 years. Councillors must be convinced that the savings are real and are achieved, and not mumbo-jumbo “savings had been identified as deliverable and therefore signed off as delivered”.
No doubt, readers can spot the difference. It is the job of Scrutiny to scrutinise properly.
I am not anti-Israel; I attended Conservative Friends of Israel events more than 20 years ago. Of course I fully support the right of Israel to exist and prosper as an independent state; that should not need to be said. I admire a talented and energetic people.
However, I am against the Israeli policy of constant suppression of the Palestinians; many Jews feel the same.
To be called Lawrence of Arabia may be amusing but my position is simply traditional British and Christian.
The church service last week broadcast “Never close your eyes to injustice and human suffering”. That is why I was against the massacre in Gaza of 1,400 effectively defenceless people, including 400 children, and the destruction of their homes.
The Israelis have overwhelming force – the USA supplies more military equipment to that small country than to any other. Britain and other Western countries supply yet more while the Palestinians have only smuggled small arms and home-made rockets.
The rocket fire from Gaza into Israel has killed 22 people in the past eight years – a tiny fraction of the number of Israeli traffic deaths. In the same period the Israelis frequently attacked Gaza, killing 3,521 Palestinians.
People say to me that the Jews suffered in the Holocaust so we must support them now – and yes, indeed, we do. The Holocaust tragedy was not the fault of the Palestinians; it was perpetrated by the Germans in German-occupied Europe. The Palestinians also have the right to live in peace and security in their own land, as originally guaranteed by Britain.
I believe that it is in the best long-term interest of Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a just and peaceful settlement – that will take a huge culture change on both sides.
James Hutchings
Councillor for Edgbaston
