Why is there so much uproar about Israel these days? Many people portray Israel as the aggressor in the Middle East, a bully and a manipulator of the United States. As someone uneducated in this field of debate I can only comment on what I see and hear and read, and many – but not all - of these expressions seem unfairly biased.

Israel may be the perceptible strongest nation militarily in its region. Does that make it an aggressor? With the most recent war, Lebanon had the most human casualties; surly Israeli aggression was a cause for this.

What many commentators fail to realise is that despite the so-called sophistication of the Israeli military, it has been battle-hardened ever since it’s re-emerging as a nation in 1947. It has been attacked, terrorized and threatened with extinction. Today the Iranian president makes it clear his feeling about the Jewish state, his quest for atomic power and capability only heightening tension in the region. Time and time again Israel is seen as “the obstacle to peace in the Mid-East”.

It does not seem so widely reported however, that Israel is surrounded by neighbours who so publicly seek its destruction. Im not referring to the land disputes about East Jerusalem, Gaza or the West Bank. I am referring simply to Israel’s right to exist.

I know for certain, for example, that if Britain was threatened by a conglomerate intent on wiping it off the world map, there would be outrage, and undoubtedly a flood of sympathy from around the word. And verily the threatened sovereign state would defend itself to the last.

Is this not the case with Israel surrounded by nations which are intent on its destruction? Who through embedded religious belief claim that the land occupied by the Israelites is theirs – thus making their determination for the destruction of the Jewish state more sought-after?

There is a lot of talk also about the Israelites’ claim to the ‘holy land’. Israel is a democracy, with the political option through the vote to return to the Sabbath Law and full Torah teachings, if the people wanted to vote and lean in that direction. They do not. I am not trying to get across the religious claims to the land which is Israel, but its right to self defence.

Hamas, which claims and probably does represent the Palestinian people, was voted in fair elections. They call for the complete destruction of the state of Israel, and refuse to recognize its existence. The Syrian government also suggests the same, and I need not mention Iran.

Now, fellow commentators, be fair. Who is the aggressor? Who may perhaps be the bully? Is it not understood that there are more than one side to a war? Is it not obvious that war affects not only one person or state, but many? War is not as simple as counting the casualties and claiming the state with the highest as the loser. This article is not intended to sympathise with the Jewish state – only to provoke more fair coverage.

I have heard and read things on Indymedia especially, such as “Lets turn London into another Beirut” with regards to a planned protest. Such childlike and ill-mannered sayings! Why would one want to intend that? Come now, be sensible.

Or what about the Reuters edit of a bombing scene in Beirut? What could that gain, apart from being exposed as the falsehood that the edited video was? It seems awfully messy to me; and the commentators and articles I read seem so childishly biased and even more uneducated than I am regarding this. Volatile bursts of aggression and anger rather than concise and

Fact over opinion, and opinion over emotion would perhaps do better. I do not intend with this piece of writing to be critical, only to encourage fairer reporting. Israel is the one being threatened, and yet has threatened itself. While one can see them [Israel] being heavy handed – in some cases without reason – the blatant anti-Israeli outcry continues.

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