Brutally murdering people, particularly while they are praying can never ever be justified no matter what the reasoning for it. What happened yesterday to the worshippers’ of the Jerusalem synagogue is appalling and can never be condoned.

So when Baroness Warsi, the former Foreign Office minister, made a parallel, on reactions and media coverage, between the synagogue killing and the protestors at the holly Al-Aqsa Mosque (one of the holiest sites in Islam) I sensed trouble brewing. And though I wasn’t surprised by her comment, as I understood her comparison and what she was alluding to. But sadly her timing was wrong. As a Muslim who lives in the west, and someone who does not condone aggression, I believe the Palestinian issue can never be resolved by violence and that’s why her comment was ill-timed and tasteless.

Yes, what happened to the Al-Aqsa protestors for days was quietly ignored by western media and commentators. And yes the west is very prejudiced when it comes to all things Israel. But, nonetheless there is a time and a place for everything, and yesterday’s event was neither.

Furthermore, if a few months ago, we criticised Israel for their disproportionate response in Gaza, we can’t possibly think murdering innocent people in a worshipping place is ‘proportionate’ to not receiving enough media coverage or even being frustrated by the amount of attention and interest the issue derives!

As a sympathiser to the Palestinian cause, I see, feel and hear these injustices daily, but rather than agitate opinions, I prefer to slowly change them — as they did during the Gaza bombing a few month ago. Also this way those looking for a reason to paint Palestinian supporters as terror sympathisers don’t get their wish. The West, Israel and their allies are stronger, better financed and more established. Exposing and helping others to see the injustices inflicted on occupied Palestine is a slow and long process and needs both time and patience to achieve it.

Palestine must continue to exist and grow side by side with Israel. Her people must be given back their occupied land. But all of that can only be realized by peacefully exposing the injustices of the occupier, not by offering them and their propaganda masters a way out.

What Sayeeda did is counterproductive. Because now instead of talking about significant issues, such as condemning the Israeli government for their recent heavy handed senseless punishment of demolishing the homes of suspects, she will spent the next coming days explaining what she said and didn’t mean. Thus wasting valuable opportune time to question how is demolishing a flat on the third floor of an apartment complex not pure hateful madness?

Baroness Warsi might not hold a government office but whatever she says still holds weight, even if was negative.

Dear Mr. Hasan,

Your piece ‘Not a dull grey man in a suit’ about the relationship between Baroness Warsi and the Conservative party had what I call a number of lazy assumptions. As a card carrying Conservative since 2000, I know a thing or two about my party. Add to that, I am a woman, black and also Muslim. I also know Sayeeda on a personal level and find her business minded yet down to earth, she is plain talking easy to understand and relate to. That’s why I find your article in the New Statesman unfair, not only did it manipulate the truth but it painted the Baroness as an unable woman.

Under Baroness Warsi’s chairmanship and while in government [parties usually do badly at the ballot box whilst in government] the Conservatives did better than expected during the 2011 local elections and very well in the Alternative Vote referendum. Nonetheless, most party members’ frustration with Warsi come from the feeling that she is invisible when the party or its leadership is under attack. I see you covered yourself regarding recent events by claiming ‘your sources’ had informed you that she wasn’t asked to take to the airwaves on the Monday morning because the decision had already been taken to send out Maude and Michael Fallon. However, last year during and after the London Riots where her no nonsense Northern charm would have been a tremendous help she was nowhere to be seen. Also her interview with Andrew Neil about party membership [her brief] wasn’t helpful.

There is no denying in many areas the Baroness is doing a great job – confronting Nick Griffin on Question Time and the extremist Anjem Choudary on Newsnight are testament to her abilities and no other Tory could have handled both men better than she did. But it is that level of skirmish that grassroots and party members expect form her when the party is under attack, and when she vanishes they feel disappointed and letdown. Now, if as your sources say, Downing Street has decided not to use her then they [Downing Street] are doing both her and the party a disservice!

Nonetheless, here is where your laziness shine through; Judged by the intensity and sheer volume of the anti-Warsi vitriol, it is difficult to come to any other conclusion than that her critics don’t like her because she ticks three very un-Tory boxes: she is female, Asian and Muslim. Since it is 2012 and they can’t say as much in public, her right-wing opponents target instead her alleged lack of “competence” and “ability”.

Here is a genuine question for you, do you actually believe that, or is that what you and the left are prepared to accept because it is what makes you feel righteous ……

Finally, thank you for acknowledging our progress, a 450% increase in one parliament is not a small task but it is only the beginning.

Yours sincerely

Walaa Idris