Today's Guardian letters page carries a letter of near-staggering annoyance. It is from a Diane Langford of Whitstable, complaining about the clue in December 12's Quick Crossword, "part of Israeli capital disputed by Palestinians." The answer that worked in the grid was "east Jerusalem", with which I admit I had some trouble because east Jerusalem, strictly speaking, is not disputed by Palestinians but claimed by them. I forgave the Quick Crossword compilers because they have limited room in which to boil down complicated concepts; but Ms Langford took the irritation to a new level. She insists: "That east Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian land is undisputed by all but the Israelis. Besides, the universally acknowledged capital of Israel is Tel Aviv, also built upon land stolen from dispossessed Palestinians."
Well, where to start? The "universally acknowledged capital of Israel is Tel Aviv"? How about if I write, the universally acknowledged capital of Britain is Whitstable? Equally idiotic, not least because it assumes that a sovereign country cannot proclaim its own capital. Built on land stolen from dispossessed Palestinians? Really? The founders of Tel Aviv would be fascinated to hear that the money they paid out in good faith for the land on which Tel Aviv grew was so easily dismissed, and that they had stolen the land instead.
But hey. It's only a Quick Crossword. How about Diane Clueless Langford?
