We must send a strong message on settlements

Readers write about Israel, school fees, drones and children on planes.

Settlement building in East Jerusalem. Atef Safadi / EPA

One can only hope that Joseph Dana is correct in his opinion article, UN vote will strengthen the boycott movement (December 26).

The boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement exists because of a failure to get Israel’s attention on altering its behaviour.

Israel remains in major violation of the Declaration of Human Rights, written after the Second World War specifically to address mistreatment of Jews. Now, one of the worst violators of human rights is Israel itself.

The United States Congress has repeatedly given Israel its blessing, regardless of Israeli violations of human rights. Even when Israel Defence Forces members have killed unarmed US citizens, congress has turned its back and ignored it.

It is well past the time for change. President Barack Obama has taken a mild step in abstaining from the UN Security Council vote. However, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Spain (which all sit on the UN Security Council) did not. They voted squarely against ­Israel’s behaviour.

Let us hope that this gives the BDS movement hope that all economic activity with Israel can be terminated until Israeli settlement activity ends and is then reversed.

P Wedlund, US

School fees need revision

As the economic situation changes, I think there should be a discussion about reducing school fees.

Many expatriates are leaving, yet school fees are ridiculously high, especially for the British curriculum.

There are more schools being built, so parents will have more choice. Existing schools should revise their fees to a more realistic figure to retain business.

Saira Latif, Abu Dhabi

Questions over rules on drones

I refer to Even if you receive a drone as a gift, you must still register it, UAE residents told (December 25). If a drone hovers above your house and has a camera on it, how do you know if it's registered or not?

I feel like I’m being watched daily.

Rachel Croft, Abu Dhabi

Does the registration requirement include the toy drones that you can buy off the shelf at toy stores for Dh300-500?

Hesham Youssef, Abu Dhabi

Children aren’t the problem

I'd like to respond to Executive travel: Child-free zones are innovative, but may be discriminatory (December 25).

It may be better to have a special zone for lazy parents who can’t be bothered educating their children how to behave in public. Most of those children are much more disciplined when their parents are not around.

G Vidale, Dubai

Damning with faint praise?

I disagree with elements of your review of the Mate 9, Huawei's newest smartphone a decent, solid performer (December 26).

You refer to its “decent build quality” and “decent camera”, but Huawei’s build quality is a match for, if not better than, Samsung’s or Apple’s.

It is more than decent and it has a better camera than the iPhone 7.

In my opinion, ­Huawei will be the world’s next smartphone king.

A Noneya, Dubai

Telecoms firms better together

It makes sense for the Saudi and UAE telecoms companies to work together (Etisalat and Mobily working out new deal after management agreement ends, December 25).

Saudi Arabia introduced 763 inventions and 869 industrial samples to the world in 2015. It has had more than six million trademark registrations in recent times.

Communications is just one of the fields the Saudis are expanding in, and it makes perfect sense for the two giants, Etisalat and Mobily, to develop a service and technical support agreement.

Name withheld by request

Porcelain has global apparel

In reference to the letter Accentuate the positive (December 28), UAE porcelain has indeed found its way to the European Union.

Leinster House, the seat of the Irish Parliament, uses tableware made in Ras Al Khaimah. It is quite competitive.

Name withheld by request