Bar-Kochba and his like were the terrorist threat of their day.Serious persecution of the Jews qua "Jews" rather than as disturbers of the peace did not occur before the establishment of Christianity.I support the existence/aims of the state of Israel.A modern Hadrian would regard Israel as an ally.

stephen, plymouth, uk

I was circumcised at age 25 (years!) and no complaints, not from the wife either!

More seriously, even tho' circumcision is a serious topic, is that Jews DO understand the plight of the Palestinians, it's just that it'd be better if the Pal's were to stop preaching genocide and denying holocaust

A.Thompson, Cheltenham,

To Mr Wring; when I say Scots I mean the people living north of wall; I accept a wrong label but am not an expert on ancient Celtic cultures - you know what I mean and you are just nit-picking. At least I am not as ignorant as most non-Jews to our rights and origins in Israel; pure anti-Semitism

Martin Sugarman, London, UK

To R Harris; all people have right to correct historical wrongs, INCLUDING JEWS , and we were wronged by Arabs; they must now share with us to compensate; they are getting a 2 state solution as Jews always agreed, but guarantees first on full internatioinal recognition / end to terror.
Grow up!

Martin Sugarman, London, UK

Mr Sugaqrman's letter is a mangled press release from the Israeli embassy. His flawed logic is that only the Zionists have the right to correct historical wrongs - but that the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians evicted from their ancestral lands and properties are just Johny-cum-latelies.

R Harris, London, UK

At the time of Hadrian the Scots were in Ireland. It wasn't until circa 250 that they first raided Scotland. Ignorance takes many forms.

Jamie Wring, TORQUAY, ENGLAND

To Robert; total ignorance and bias by u ; Palestine was and remains always a Romanised name and symbol of cultural genocide aginst Jews. It has nothing to do with Jews who NEVER use it. It remains a symbol of anti-Zionism by people like u, who have no answer to our historical origin in Israel

Martin Sugarman, London, UK

Not racism, but common sense.

The wall served to mark the extent of his empire.

Once he discovered that the northern part of Britannia was an inhospitable land of mist, bogs, midges and warring tribes, Hadrian concluded that it had little to offer the Roman Empire.

Nor, indeed, any Empire.

George , Swindon, England

Not racism, common sense.

The wall served to mark the extent of his Empire.

Once he had discovered that the northern part of Britannia was an inhospitable land of mist, bogs, midges, and warring tribes, Hadrian concluded it had little to offer the Roman Empire.

Nor indeed, any Empire.

George , Swindon, England

...and the term "Syria Palaestina" was first applied to Judea (s.West Bank) by the Romans in an attempt to, as stated, wipe out Jewish identification with Israel. It is a latinised version of a greek name given to the Coastal area and applied more widely.To Jews it has always been the land of Israel

Joel, London, UK

A few minor corrections. The city was named "Aelia Capitolina", and was built in 131 AD, before not after the revolt, when Jerusalem was already in ruins. And the province was called "Syria Palaestina" because that is what the region itself had been called for over five hundred years.

Robert Firth, Singapore,

To Ed; the Israeli security wall is not crushing Palestinian culture, but keeping out terrorists who are NOT the rightful owners of the land of Israel and wish to destroy the Israeli people, who are. The Romans had no right in Britain and came to conquer and control and kill, driving Scots away.

Martin Sugarman, London, UK

To John; try reading Jewish history and see that anti-Semitism was and remains driven by church teachings, economic envy and greed, and political use of Jews as scapegoats in Christian and Islamic imperialism. Your suggestion that there is something wrong with us Jews is itself your racism exposed!

Martin Sugarman, London, UK

To Jim; what we know is that the Palestinians wish to destroy the Jews like Hadrian, and the Arabs are as guilty as Hadrian in ethnically cleansing us from Israel in the 6th cent, and reinforcing our homelessness and thus persecution from then untill 1948. You may forget Hadrian; we cannot afford to

Martin Sugarman, London, UK

To Sam; albeit a ritual, circumcision has no mutilating effect at all on Jewish and Moslem men and indeed is regarded by modern scientsits as entirely healthy in preventing infections in men and women, and penile cancers. Funny, at 8 days old I don't remember it hurting; my dad put wine on my lips

Martin Sugarman, London, UK

Banning genital mutilation doesn't sound like persecution to me: it sounds like protection of the young from the superstitions of their parents.

The rest is bad, very bad, of course.

Sam C, Shrewsbury, England

So (security) walls are symbols of racism? How interesting!

Ed Zuiderwijk, Cambridge, UK

Roman, medieval, twentieth century; one must ask why Jews have been hated and persecuted - what have they done to attract all this attention? Whatever it is has been very carefully masked. I suspect that plenty of other groups have been persecuted over the years and yet you only ever hear of one.

John, Worcester,

So the Jewish people more than any body else should know the struggle the Palestinians are going thro. Hadrians dead .
Forget about him. Bush is doing more harm to you by allowing
you the Nuclear Power power. The Depleated Uranium armaments that you fired on the Lebanon will come back to haunt you

Jim , Irvine, Scotland