Israel and Palestine both to blame
James Andry
senior
I am writing this letter in response to Seth Hiland's Feb. 11 letter entitled, "Arafat should not be tolerated." I do agree that Arafat should not be tolerated and that his actions have proven that he is an ineffective leader in the peace process. However, Mr. Hiland's view on the situation as a whole is disturbing. He cites that the "number of Israelis killed by Arab terrorists in the years since the Oslo Accords has been higher than in the 10 years prior."
He also describes how Israeli efforts of patience do not have anything to show over the past 20 years and describes how Israel has "taken more drastic steps toward holding the Palestinians accountable for their actions." The Palestinians have not agreed to peace and extremists have stepped up suicide bombings in the last 16 months.
This is all true and cannot be disputed. However, what Mr. Hiland's letter failed to address is that not all Palestinians are evil and not all Israelis are noble.
So what about the other half of the picture? The Palestinians do not agree to peace because their land, which they believe was given to them by God himself, was not back in their possession. And let us not forget that it was the Palestinians who were forced from their land after World War II to form the state of Israel, which resulted in the refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and the surrounding area now home to thousands of refugees.
Don't let the media sway your objectivity of the situation. All you have to do is look at the pictures, not the biased text that is sympathetic to Israel. What do you see when you see Israelis in the Associated Press? You see soldiers with M-16s, reports of Palestinian homes being bulldozed and F-16s bombing buildings.
What do you see when you see Palestinians in the Associated Press? You see young men 15 to 30 years old throwing rocks with their faces covered to protect from tear gas. What does this tell you about who has the power in this region? It certainly isn't the Palestinians.
Israel is backed by us, the United States, which is why M-16s and F-16s find their way into the control of an Israeli soldier. Yes, the number of Israelis killed is higher, but that number pales in comparison to the number of Palestinian civilian casualties. In this conflict, Israel has lost less than 100 soldiers in contrast to over 2,000 Palestinian civilians.
At any moment, if Israel so chooses, it could annihilate the Palestinians and any combination of nations in the Middle East. The reason that Arafat's forces were caught smuggling in weapons was because they don't have any to fight with. Israel has guns, planes, bulldozers, helicopters and gunships. Palestinians have rocks. It really isn't a fair fight.
Mr. Hiland said that President Bush was wise to side with Sharon, Barak and the rest of Israel. Of course he is and that is the side that will win this fight. But do not forget that Bush inherited a nation that has a large Jewish population with plenty of representation in both Congress and the Senate, i.e. Senator Joseph Leibermann, which means that it would be political suicide if he did not side with Israel. The social and political uproar would be unheard of.
I do agree with Mr. Hiland on many of his points, mainly that Arafat should be ousted because I do believe he is harboring terrorists and not succeeding as a leader. But try not to be swayed that Israel is a sinless entity. Neither side has been angelic.
James Andry
senior
Dillon Hall
Feb. 11, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, February 13, 2002
