What Middle eastern experts…….cannot get themselves to acknowledge is that Netanyahu does not accept Palestinian statehood anywhere in Palestine, and will do everything in his power to prevent it, because he and his government want the West Bank for themselves. It is as simple as that. They are convinced that with their vast military superiority over the Palestinians, they can have it all.. (Henry Siegman, President of the US/Middle East Project and non-resident research professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in the February issue of Prospect magazine).

Epicureans find it increasingly impossible to support this injustice. An Epicurean in a position of power (an almost inconceivable eventuality!) would call the Netanyahu bluff and insist on a just settlement for the Palestinian dispossessed, where Israelis could dominate the region economically and the Arabs could live in peace and self-respect. This whole thing is premised on a religious and iffy history dating back thousands of years and in any case muddles up Jews with Israelites. It is like the Welsh getting religion and demanding back the south east of England. It is a demonstration of the mis-use of religion and, if people were paying attention, should drive millions into the moral and decent arms of Epicurus and other beliefs that spurn the use of armed might to rob others.