Response written before publication of the Times article 7/5/2024

In the comments made in past Twitter threads I compared the situation of being invaded by one country to the situation regarding Israel and Palestine. I also compared it to the German Nazis invading France, and further the effect of what may have occurred if the Nazis invaded Great Britain. I believe that the people who have been invaded would fight back in some way shape or form. This is legal under international law. That is as far as my comparison was intended to go. 

I do not under any circumstances, support violence of any type by anybody.  I condemn all forms of violence.

I am pacifist and it is my considered opinion that the only way to deal with situations of this type is through negotiation and an attempt at reaching a common understanding.

I call for an immediate cessation of the Hamas and IDF violence, the return of hostages from both sides and the setting up of a truth and reconciliation system as a matter of urgency.

My Father lived in occupied Jersey during the second world war. His family managed to co-exist without violence with the Nazi occupiers. This did not make them collaborators but it did allow society and the mechanisms of civilisation to continue as far as that was possible.

I hope and believe that if cool heads can be kept on either side of any conflict, it should be possible to reach some degree of understanding. If however this is not possible, I do not consider myself capable or indeed willing to make any further suggestion. I myself however, would not use any sort of violence and I would make that clear.

In many other tweets I have intended to make the following points:

Pressure groups come in all types, one group is never representative of the entirety of the people they may claim to represent. This is clearly true of both the Israeli and Hamas leaderships.

Further, supporting a group does not and should never be used as an indication of support for every action taken by any member of that group.

It is not antisemitic to disapprove of the actions of the Israeli Government.  

It is not pro Hamas to wish Palestinian people to live in peace.

I stand by my comments and am happy to enter further debate.