• MARTIN Sugarman (How and why Israel defends itself, November 24), is critical of Fiona Millar’s letter of November 17 as “Israel-bashing” but can only respond to the situation she accurately describes in the West Bank with a false history lesson.

He fails to provide any evidence of why Fiona Millar’s reporting from Palestine was in any way not accurate.

Having recently returned from the West Bank as one of 24 supporters of the UK charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (www.map.org.uk), cycling and walking 240km through the occupied territories from Jennin to Nablus, Taybeh, Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron and Jerusalem, I am saddened beyond belief to be witness to all the things described by Fiona Millar as being true.

During the eight days we were in Palestine at least three people were shot and killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and, since then, hardly a day passes without another killing which is ignored by the Western media.

We saw at first-hand how the Separation Wall cuts Palestinian communities in two, dividing friends and even family. This week a primary school near Hebron was evacuated shortly before the IDF bulldozed it to the ground.

Before we visited MAP projects in Jerusalem I had imagined that the money we were raising would be targeted at the physical health of Palestinians but, in fact, a large proportion of the £100,000 we raised for MAP’s essential work will be spent on mental health projects because of the trauma inflicted on the Palestinian people by the IDF and the Israeli government.

We were told how one of the biggest fears for Palestinians is that when they leave their homes in the morning they have no idea whether they will still be alive at the end of the day.

Rather than a history lesson wouldn’t it be better for Martin Sugarman to try and work to ensure that all residents of the region can return home safely at the end of every day?

PAUL CLYNDES, NW5