Ryan Dalli's organisation's self-declared position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one-sided (January 15). My point was, and remains, that our government, given our constitutionally entrenched neutrality, should not take up their suggestion to be seen pushing a one-sided view in the EU.

For almost 20 years we were certainly not "pretending to be invisible in world politics" (as Mr Dalli put it), when we claimed we were a bridge between Europe and Arabia, and our northern neighbours saw us more as an anti-Western "thorn in the soft belly of Europe". Having convinced our northern neighbours that we had changed our ways, declared ourselves neutral, and they having admitted us to their club, the last thing we need is get embroiled in this conflict between two peoples both claiming the same land as theirs and their forefathers'.

The EU has already helped the Gaza Palestinians financially while warning them that they would eventually need to recognise the state of Israel.

Mr Dalli's organisation is perfectly entitled to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza Palestinians and, if our government were asked to mediate in the conflict, that would, in fact, be a stamp of approval of our neutrality. However, floating an official one-sided view in the EU would, I believe, not only achieve nothing positive in this intractable conflict but would also be inconsonant with our declared neutrality which, by the way, was enacted not only to resolve our own electoral political impasse but also to please our southern neighbours, from whom, in return, we got illegal immigrants and a longstanding prohibition of offshore oil exploration. This is my last response on this matter.