K A Martin (Letters, April 11) charged Ariel Sharon with every crime known to man, yet there was no mention of the suicide bombers killing Israeli citizens, nor any understanding of Israel having to go after them so long as Yasser Arafat daily incites them to kill.

Mr Martin claimed Sharon started the current troubles by "striding around holy Palestinian land". The Palestinian rioting was not spontaneous. Imad Faluji, the Palestinian Authority communications minister, admitted months after Sharon's visit that the violence had been planned much earlier. Palestinian security chief Jabril Rajoub gave Sharon his assurance that if Sharon did not enter the mosques, no problems would arise.

"Holy Palestinian land" presumably referred to the Temple Mount. This is where the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in 70 AD and is the most holy site in Judaism. Sharon simply walked on to Judaism's most holy ground.

Mr Martin called Israel "stolen land, taken by force" yet it has been continually Jewish for 3,000 years. Why did he call Sharon the warmonger? Israel agreed to more than 90 per cent of Arafat's demands yet Arafat chose war using Palestinian children as shields, then by suicide bombers. His failure is the real tragedy of the Palestinians and the cause of the loss of life on each side.

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