Letters to the Editor | 15 October 2005

Appeasing evil

Israeli policy in the occupied territories, says John Denham (‘Israel’s actions affect our security’, 24 September) ‘is not simply a matter of foreign policy, it is a matter for British domestic security policy too’.

His logic seems to run as follows: the Palestinians suffer from their conflict with Israel, their plight is heeded by ‘young Muslims [who] very much identify with Palestinians’, some of whom express their dissatisfaction by self-immolation in locations chosen to ensure the maximum death toll among British civilians. Therefore, if only we could appease the Muslim extremists by adopting a more hostile attitude towards Israel, the global jihadists groups would lose their cause célèbre and their network of terror will simply wither away.

It seems like an easy solution. It’s almost surprising that more governments haven’t taken it on board. But as with most easy solutions, it is also wrong, for the simple reason that al-Qa’eda is not driven by a rational political agenda.