Middle East '46

Regarding Barry Merson’s letter [E-mail, Nov. 21], I urge you to take a trip back in time. The year is 1946, substitute a couple of nouns here and there and look what you get:

“As I read on news wires about a Jewish terrorist ambush that has killed 12 Britons and Arabs, and wounded 15 others… I am thoroughly appalled by media attempts to turn victims into perpetrators and vice versa. Jewish terrorists are murdering Arabs and Englishmen on an almost daily basis while international leftists have nothing better to do than try to interfere with Britain’s self-defence. It is reported that a few of these agitators sustained minor injuries in clashes with British soldiers. If so, they more than had it coming to them. In any other country in a struggle for survival against fanatical and ruthless enemies, these characters would almost certainly have been shot without hesitation. Only Britain shows such restraint in the face of outrageous provocation.”

How is it that the State of Israel—which owes a big part of its existence to audacious and determined fighters like David Raziel, Jabotinsky, Shlomo Ben Yosef, Yakov Raz and Avraham Stern—does not see that faced with occupation and exile, the Palestinians will show the same angst to fight for their freedom?

» Immanuel Kay

Despite Roger White’s incomprehensible remarks that it is the Palestinians who are “trying to defend themselves,” [E-mail, Nov. 28], and that my factual assertion that Israeli forces acting in self-defence is a “lie,” [E-mail, Nov. 21], I stand by my earlier statement.

The Palestinian Intifada is obviously a war of indiscriminate mass murder against Israelis and just about anyone else who gets in the way. The Israeli objective is peace with security. The Palestinian objective is to try to eradicate the Jewish state.

If you look at how countries the world over are dealing with invasions and terrorism, it should be obvious how Israel’s response is comparatively restrained. This is apparently lost on White and other critics of Israel. As for his complaint about “militant Jews (Zionists)” controlling the media, it just gives us an idea as to what we are up against. You just can’t reason with someone like this, so I won’t even try. I’ll just continue to stand up for Israel as a Jew and a citizen of a democratic society. If anyone has a problem with that, too bad.

» Barry Merson

I find it strange how newspapers such as your own criticize George W. Bush for leading us into a war without mentioning the other groups encouraging him to do so.

Take the Taliban, which could have given up Bin Laden, thus avoiding war in their own country while, need I add, remaining in power. Those groups have tried to kill the pope in hopes of bringing about a war between the Christian West and the Muslim East. Bin Laden, realizing that bombing American targets in Africa did not bring about war, bombed the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Then there’s the Christian “Zionists” with their talk of “The Final Battle.” These groups hunger for holy jihad and Armageddon while most of us do not. We should look at their actions much more critically. The peace of the world will, in large part, be determined by that.

» Robert Feinstein

Correction

In our story on new-school skiing [“Flying twin tips, Nov. 28], certain sidebar commentary was credited to Iannick B. and J.F. Cusson, when in fact it was Iannick B. and Danny Laroche.

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