Madam, - Kevin Myers's racist ranting against my people should be condemned and should not be given space in your publication (An Irishman's Diary, March 2nd).
His attempt at condemning anti-Semitism while portraying all Palestinians as nihilistic, bloodthirsty murderers smacks of dim-witted hypocrisy.
If this level of racism were directed at any other group it would be deemed unpublishable. The Palestinian people deserve the same level of respect.
As well as being extremely offensive, Mr Myers's journalism is sloppy and his choice of sources naïve. He seems to base most of his anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Arafat rants on information he has received from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which he claims is "invaluable". MEMRI was co-founded by the Israeli-born US academic Meyrav Wurmser, a leading neo-conservative figure who is married to a high-ranking Pentagon official, David Wurmser.
Both have written propagandist papers supporting Israeli foreign policy, including the now infamous "Clean Break" project that called for the Israeli-inspired overthrow of Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat. It is widely considered as the neo-con bible.
The other co-founder of MEMRI is Colonel Yigal Carmon, the former head of Israeli military intelligence.
Not surprisingly, the e-mails that MEMRI churns out usually attack the Arab character or further the political agenda of Israel. Most intelligent observers have easily identified the biased nature of MEMRI and view it as a propaganda organ for neo-con Likudniks. However, Mr Myers in his "wisdom" is happy to act as its mouthpiece. - Yours, etc.,
ALI HALIMEH,
Delegate General of
Palestine in Ireland,
Adelaide Road,
Dublin 2.