You can condemn Israel's crimes without whitewashing Iran's
Let's be clear: Israel is absolutely guilty of war crimes. I've long condemned its bombing of Gaza, the siege, the apartheid system in the West Bank, and the systemic targeting of journalists and aid convoys. But what I won't do is turn a blind eye to Iran's own behaviour just because it happens to be on the other side of this conflict.
To claim, as Leah Gunn Barrett does, that 'Iran doesn't deliberately murder civilians' is simply false. Iran's regime doesn't need to drop the bombs themselves – it's spent decades arming and directing groups who do. Hezbollah has shelled Israeli towns with rockets for years. The Houthis – trained and armed by Iran – have launched missiles at Saudi airports and civilian infrastructure. Shia militias in Iraq – again, Iranian-backed – opened fire on unarmed Iraqi protesters in 2019, killing more than 500. And in Syria, Iran directly enabled Assad's massacre of civilians, helping to bomb schools, hospitals and homes. These are not rumours — they are documented, photographed, and reported by the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.
Iran may use others to do its dirty work, but the civilians are still just as dead.
Peter Thomson calls Israel's strike on Iran 'unprovoked.' That erases a critical fact: on April 13 2024, Iran launched a wave of more than 300 drones and missiles directly at Israeli cities – not through proxies, but from Iranian territory. It was the first direct attack of its kind. What did you think Israel was going to do? Send flowers? None of this excuses Netanyahu or the crimes committed in Gaza. But context matters. Iran is not a neutral actor caught in the crossfire – it is a state with regional ambitions, a vast military, and a long record of supporting violence beyond its borders.
And on the nuclear issue: yes, Israel is a nuclear power and refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That's a valid criticism. But Iran is no honest broker. It has hidden nuclear sites, blocked inspections, and enriched uranium far beyond civilian levels. It was caught sanitising facilities and removing International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring cameras – behaviour consistent with someone preparing not for peace, but for leverage. And if you think nuclear weapons in the hands of a regime that hangs protestors, jails women for dancing, and wants Israel 'erased from the pages of time' is somehow a path to regional stability, I'd urge a rethink.
Isobel Lindsay's suggestion of a total boycott of Israel also ignores the obvious: many Israelis oppose their own government. From B'Tselem to former IDF soldiers in Breaking the Silence, there is resistance within the state. Blanket boycotts often silence allies more than they pressure governments.
Let me say it plain: Palestine is not Iran. The Palestinian people are under occupation, denied a state, and bombed into rubble. Iran is a regional power, funding militant groups and crushing its own citizens under religious law. Conflating the two is not solidarity – it's erasure.
You can condemn Israel's crimes without whitewashing Iran's. You can support Palestine without excusing Tehran's ambitions. You can hold two truths at once – and if we care about real peace, we must.
James Murphy
Bute
I WRITE in reply to Leah Gunn Barrett. She says that Iran and the Houthis don't target civilians. Iran are doing just that now, it is totally indiscriminate. I don't agree with Israel's actions either.
Norman Robertson
via email
I WONDER when the Labour UK Government will start sending armed forces to help Russia defend itself? Surely Starmer and co must be lining up troops, planes and even the navy to help protect Russia from the Ukrainians? This may sound bizarre, but it's not any more ridiculous than sending support to help defend Israel from the retaliation it is receiving from Iran. Israel started the war with Iran – but UK foreign policy seems, at least in Israel's case, to support the aggressor and pretend that they are the victim.
The BBC is already on the case with its usual mix of lies and misinformation. Thanks to Starmer and his allies putting up with Israeli atrocities across the Middle East, not least their genocide of the Palestinians (which has now been dropped by all mainstream media), Netanyahu feels he can do whatever he wants to anyone and no-one will stop him.
The UK is complicit in Israel's war crimes – we are arming and supporting Israel in its genocide and apparently helping to defend it from Iran's justifiable attacks on the aggressor state of Israel. The UK Government has become a puppet regime of Israel – there to do their bidding and support whatever atrocity they want to carry out.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
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