Sir: The borders of Israel continue to expand while Palestine shrinks. Settlements keep cropping up with complete impunity on Palestinian land. The toll of Palestinian civilians dead has reached the 1,400 mark; 56 Israeli soldiers lost their lives. Israel has one of the most formidable fighting forces in the Middle East, perhaps in the world. They have the very latest version of jet fighters, tanks and artillery, missiles and the iron dome and enough atomic warheads to blow the entire Middle East off the face of the earth, all with US compliments, of course!The Palestinians manage with stones and sling-shots. They have acquired and can cobble up some primitive rockets that mostly make a lot of noise and can do little else.This is a totally one-sided affair.Yet Mr Obama keeps harping on the same old tune: “Israel has a right to defend itself.” He has to say what he says because of the Jewish lobby’s pistol behind his back.The ‘kings’ and ‘emirs’ of the Arab world have to toe the US line as well. Their silence is deafening.But with no such compulsions, why is France so brazenly pro-Israel? It is the only country in the world where you go to jail for any aspersions on the ‘holocaust’. Protest against the Gaza killings is banned. One would have expected better from a country that has itself been occupied once. What if we said that Hitler was using his right to defend Germany in occupied France? That wouldn’t be ‘kosher,’ would it?Capt S Afaq RizviKarachi