When the ‘Churches Active in Our Community' page was content serving the churches in the Bay, I had nothing to say. After ‘A call to support Israel' (The Weekend Sun, March 6) I must respond.

Uri Avnery, one Israeli I admire greatly, argues that confusing principled opposition to Israel's mistreatment of Palestinians with anti-Semitism runs the major risk of giving anti-Semitism a positive spin. Even Israelis are sickened by the State of Israel's policies towards Palestinians.

I'd also question terming Israel a ‘democracy'. One of the most important features of a democracy is the people's right to constrain the state's use of lethal force. Any state that denies any given population under its control that right to constrain the use of lethal force is not a democracy.

There are reputable Palestinian witnesses to Israel's habitual use of lethal force against the Palestinian population under its control. Talk to Arab Israelis about ‘Land Day'.

Israel expelled the majority of Mandatory Palestine's Arab population in 1948 to create the ‘Jewish State'. It resembles the Spanish Crown's expulsion of the Spanish Jews, the Sephardim, in 1492 to create a ‘Christian Kingdom'. Sephardim have always regarded the expulsions as criminally immoral.

Supporters of Israel go through amazing mental contortions to justify one and condemn the other. It's almost an illness.

Wesley Parish, Bellevue.