from Palestine and so I read the article (and some of the responses)with bemusement. Has this man ever been through the checkpoints into Ramallah or Bethlehem? It appears that, although he lives in the region, his knowledge of the lives of his fellow human beings is negligible. Israel is not a liberal democracy that serves as a beacon to the rest of the Middle-East; its leaders- Likud, Labour,Kadima- have created a racist, fearful, miserable and hypocritical state ruled, in essence, by a reactionary Army which has the final say on any issue relating to the Occupation. We saw this recently when Olmert was under pressure to ease roadblocks; the proposal was vetoed by his Army. The legal system that Israel operates in Palestine- which is what I have been observing- is spiteful, callous and morally corrupt, utilising torture and discriminatory procedures to intimidate and humiliate the children of Palestine in particular. The abuse of Palestinian children in the Israeli judicial sytem (or more accurately, in its Military tribunals in Occupied Palestine)- and yes, this does include well-documented cases of sexual abuse- is a subject which few in the West dare to confront though it is no secret. And why? To allow a relatively small number of hysterical, fundamentalist settlers to colonise someone else's country. Peres is one of the architects of this miserable situation. Perhaps it is too much to hope that he opens his eyes before he finally retires. arsian you wrote: "...stop threatening Iran with nuclear attack..." You