THE problems in Israel, reported in every bulletin and paper, are, alas, just another example of the bitter hatred of Israel, as a state, against the Palestinians, who from even before the founding of the state have been persecuted, displaced, squeezed constantly into small and smaller areas of what was their land, and denied every form of justice.

Yes, occasionally the resentment and despair of the Palestinians breaks out into violence against Israel – mostly the small-scale violence of a people without an army.

We hear of the sad deaths of three young people from one of the illegal settlements carved out of Palestinian land, who were hitch-hiking near Hebron. Yet Hebron is an example of the persecution of Palestinians by Israelis and it would be surprising if tempers did not sometimes fray.

But the response is predictable: culprits are announced, without any proof or legal process.

The media no longer report the daily and weekly killings of Palestinians by Israelis, the seizing of children by armed soldiers, and their imprisonment, without charge or trial, for long periods, as well as the constant harassment by young Israeli conscripts of Palestinians at the many checkpoints which control their every journey.

Joyce Pickard, Hansom Place, York.