Professor Francome's views are not original (Eliminate need for terrorism', Times Group, November 8), particularly on the subject of the Israel-Arab conflict, where they reflect popular sentiment in this country.

A majority of 'ordinary' people (ie as well as academics and political commentators) in Britain clearly have an extraordinary interest in the Israel-Arab conflict.

If the 'Jewish' could be taken out of the 'Jewish State' then I suspect that those people would not display any greater interest in that conflict than they do in any of the other conflicts which currently subsist in the world, and Israel would not then be used as the scapegoat for the ills visited upon the Western world by Muslim fanatics.

It is well-known in the West, but totally disregarded, that the real objective of the Arabs is the total replacement of Israel with yet another Arab state.

Yasir Arafat and his colleagues are glib with their talk of peace to the international media, but what they say to their own people via the Arab media has an entirely different message, namely that the establishment now of a Palestinian state is simply a stepping-stone towards the ultimate goal, which is the elimination of the Jewish state.

Gordon Ross

Somerset Road, Barnet

November 14, 2001 18:01