A PALESTINIAN who lives at Charlton Down has spoken of his hope that his homeland will find peace after the latest carnage caused by attacks on Gaza.

Faysal Mikdadi said he hopes both sides will say ‘enough is enough’ and bring about lasting peace in the war-torn corner of the Middle East.

He said he is concerned for his many friends and colleagues who still live in Gaza.

And he recalled how he was arrested for standing on the land that was home to his family and for which he still has the deeds.

Dr Mikdadi, who has lived in the UK since 1967 and at Charlton Down since 2002, said he had been following news coverage of the latest attacks by Israel with concern and anger.

He said: “I think both sides are guilty of phenomenal stupidity. It appears that Israel’s reaction is out of proportion because it is the one that is able to hammer hardest.

“It seems to me there is a lack of leadership that has the courage to say enough is enough and find a way to have peace. It’s been going on for 60 years but people on both sides want peace.

“I am optimistic about it because I know the silent majority of ordinary people want peace and also look at history – look at Northern Ireland.”

Dr Mikdadi, 60, an education expert who travels widely in the Middle East and elsewhere, was born at Nathanay in the West Bank and grew up in Beirut. He has family in more than 100 countries across the world but still looks on Gaza, where he has been a teacher, as his homeland.

He last visited in 1999 and has friends there and in Israel.

He said: “Since 2001 there is no question of going out there because the situation has deteriorated so much.

“I was arrested while I stood on the land that is my family’s and as I was holding the deeds to that land. It was done very nicely and I was given a cup of coffee.”

He said he believes the US and president-elect Barak Obama have a role to play in bringing peace to the area.

In a letter in the Independent newspaper, Dr Mikdadi expresses his dismay and criticises America and the UK for their stance on the situation.

He said: “The important thing is for people to talk to each other. That’s how to bring about peace.”