Table talk
Sir: Few admitted 'strong' Zionists are as honest, or as engaging, as Professor Brogan (18 October), but I wonder whether any other racial or religious group would get his support in simi- lar current circumstances—except, perhaps, Ulster?
If Israel is 'a new imperial power,' set up despite the opposition of the majority of the indigenous population, and giving preference to Jew over Arab, where should the western democrat stand? He may feel that the Nazi persecutions gave grounds for setting aside normal democratic principles, and that the terri- tory given to 'Israel' by the UN partition resolu- tion in November 1947 was a solution, how- ever imperfect. But having set aside principle once in uniquely tragic circumstances, why should we do it again for further territory taken by the sword? There is some consensus against allowing it in South Africa or Southern Rhodesia, within their internationally recog- nised borders—what principle encourages Pro- fessor Brogan to do it beyond internationally recognised borders as well?
I suspect he is as muddled on Israel as he is on Ulster. Many people in the world are indeed tired of getting moral lessons from the British government and its subjects—primarily because the morals are frequently muddled, the prin- ciples selectively applied, and all is tinged with hypocrisy.
J. M. Jefferson
la Ridgway, Wimbledon Common, SW19
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