Imagine that you had helped Britain and France in the Great War and had been deceived.

Imagine that a man turned up at your home, you opened the door, he carried a gun in one hand and the Old Testament in the other. He said, “this book says that 2000 years ago this was my land.”

Imagine living with several million other people in a piece of land the size of the Ards Peninsula.

Imagine that the West cares little.

I spent two years in Saudi Arabia 1980-82.

While the Saudis were welcoming, many harboured a dislike of the USA and the UK. Apart from the matters above, they felt that the West had screwed them over  oil.

When the Falklands War started it was obvious whom they backed. A generation on, after the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan and in other countries , I judge that the dislike of the West has turned to hatred.

That is not to condone the Paris killings.

But until we truly understand the reasons for the hatred, nothing will change.

Why should not the Palestinians have a state?

It is easy for people to pontificate about terrorism, try experiencing it at first hand.

It is easy, too, to drive unhappy people into the arms of religion. “There is no God but Allah and Mohammet is his messenger” Killing for a greater power gives legitimacy.

Four hundred years ago , this state burned people at the stake. Not that long ago the USA had witch trials. Read Miller’s play.

Next time you read the Daily Mail, ask yourself this question; “who is speaking to me?’

I bet you will come to the conclusion that it is not the ordinary man, in London, New York, Gaza, Tel Aviv or Tripoli.