I DON’T wish to minimise in any way the trauma of bereavement. The loss of a loved one is usually a deeply upsetting experience.

I do wonder, however, at the hype regarding coronavirus. In Angus Robertson’s piece (Why drastic measures may be necessary in Scotland, February 29) he states (among many other stats) that “nearly 3000 people are known to have died”. As far as I’m aware, the last estimate of our planetary population was somewhere in excess of 7.5 BILLION.

READ MORE: Why Scotland may have to take drastic action on coronavirus

It would possibly introduce some perspective if stats were published showing how many people have died of heart disease, or been knocked down and killed on the roads, or even murdered since the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

The world’s media appear to have elevated this to Black Death levels. The “Spanish Flu” pandemic of 1918 killed (conservatively) 40-50 MILLION. I’ll be very surprised if this virus gets remotely close to this figure. By all means be aware of hygiene standards – who could argue with that? – but coronavirus appears (so far) NOT to be an automatic death sentence and should not engender panic, at least in Scotland.

Barry Stewart
Blantyre

READ MORE: Coronavirus: First case of covid-19 confirmed in Scotland

WE are in the middle of an outbreak of the coronavirus and I would like to draw your attention to Boris Johnson’s advice to wash your hands regularly as a means of halting its spread.

Boris seems to be an expert at hand-washing, having washed his hands of responsibility for the flooded regions of the UK and failing to turn up in person to give solace to the victims; having washed his hands of negotiations with the EU, preferring to have a No-Deal Brexit that suits him and his acolytes; having washed his hands of the needs of Scotland for migrant labour to help run their services; and having washed his hands of any thought of allowing a referendum on Scottish independence.

There is only one type of hand-washing we need, and that is the one which would wash away all our links to a bigoted, racist and ineffective government in Westminster.

Pete Rowberry
Duns

OH dear! Another foaming anti-Israel hate scribe (David Myles, Letters, February 29) “graces” the pages of The National. Every line of this correspondent’s text dripping with venom and hatred, I am not assured that peace is entirely at the forefront of his consciousness.

Should he remove his hate glasses, he might have clearer sight of which current Middle East state is the exemplar he requires Israel to emulate. Clear sight and vision imply that peaceful resolution is a negotiating outcome of parity and intent of two entities, mediated impartially and in good faith by neutral state actors. I searched Mr Myles’s text in vain for such a construction.

READ MORE: It’s time for the UK to recognise that Israel is a racist state

It is thus open to conjecture why Mr Myles failed to mention the murderous and violent ejection of the Palestinian Authority from Gaza by Hamas; or its current occupation by the agents and forces of the Quds Force, Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and other terrorist and Islamist imperialist entities. Perhaps he could elucidate which of these have peace, equality and human rights at the heart of their shared ethos. Israel is not a racist state: the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) imperative is, however, racist at core.

After World War Two, Israel defended itself from multiple attacks by superior Arab armies, after which peace and resolution informed the core of successive negotiations. That these have, for the most part, failed is a never-ending wound and tragedy. There is an answer to be had, but If Mr Myles had constructive options, then these he declined to impart.

Perhaps other readers of The National will fare better in the provision of an answer: However, I respectfully invite The National to note that firstly, a question has to be defined, and secondly, Israel is likely never to outsource the future of its children to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, or Mr David Myles.

Keith Steiner
Cornhill

EVERYTHING David Myles says as regards Israel is correct. The saddest thing for me about Zionism is that it gives Jewish people a bad reputation by trying to align a supremacist ideology with Judaism, which has no place in Judaism or any other religion for that matter. Unfortunately, like all other conflicts created by the two-nation theory, it is virtually impossible to foresee a solution, except perhaps for reunification into a secular state which gives Palestinians and Israelis equal rights.

Solomon Steinbett
Maryhill, Glasgow

IF the Scottish Government is serious about doing as much as it can to protect the environment, shouldn’t it demand that the Scottish Cup semi-final between Hearts and Hibs be played at Murrayfield? If they duck this simple, sensible and effective measure then aren’t their climate change credentials merely pretensions?

Jim Taylor
Edinburgh