WHEN Barack Obama became President I was filled with hope and anticipation that his actions would match his rhetoric.

I predicted that he would soon fall into the clutches of the US military and the supporters of Israel.

I watched on TV recently where a young girl with an Arab father and Jewish mother went to Israel to experience the reality of the situation with the Palestinians and the Israelis.

She listened to both sides and, with some justification, saw how the Israelis really fear suicide bombers. She saw first hand how the Israeli army humiliates and degrades the Palestinians whenever its soldiers feel like it.

To relate just one small example: mainly Arab women were going through an Israeli check point when a young boy threw a stone at the Israeli soldiers.

Without warning, the soldiers fired tear gas grenades into the crowd. Just one small incident, but so typical of how the Palestinians are treated by the Israelis.

She visited Gaza and saw how one million people live among the devastation caused by the bombardment by Israeli shells.

She also went to Tel-Aviv and saw how American money has made it into the Israeli capital.

The Americans don’t give a cent to the Palestinians, yet they pour millions into Israel whose only export is sour oranges and potatoes.

This young British girl came away totally sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Suicide bombing will only stop when Israel gets out of occupied Palestinian territory.

Hugh Pender, Darlington.