LETTERS
`Give Me' Attitude
Pervades Middle East
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Begin your special event with the
(CLEBRATIOR conntaion DIRCIORY
in our Classified Section
Once again, the Middle East is experi-
encing eruptions of violence ("Sleep-
less In Gilo," Nov. 24, page 28). On a
daily basis, stones are thrown, rifles
fired, cars bombed, rockets fired and
the land soaks in the rain of blood.
The Palestinians, we are told, are
attempting to throw off the yoke of
the Israeli occupiers of their lands.
Never do the Palestinians think to
mention that they, and their Arab
neighbors, initiated and lost three
aggressive wars against Israel.
These peaceful Palestinians are the
same people whose charter retains a
clause calling for the destruction of
Israel. Worldwide hearts bleed for the
suffering peoples of the West Bank
and Gaza, but little is done to encour-
age these peoples to return to the
negotiating table, and abide by their
agreements.
Indeed, the leadership of the Pales-
tinian Authority has done little to stop
the violence. It sanctions anti-Semitic
radio and television broadcasts and the
teachinc, of hatred in its schools. In
the name of God, young children are
taught to become suicide bombers,
secure in the knowledge that they will
be welcomed into heaven.
Photographs of a Palestinian with
bloodstained hands evoke little protest
from a largely uncaring world.
The same world, however, does not
hesitate to gnash its teeth, cry aloud
and demand justice when it sees a pic-
ture of an Israeli soldier towering over
an injured Palestinian. When news
accounts are corrected to identify the
scene as one of a soldier protecting an
American citizen, much of the world
has no interest in one Jew protecting
another.
Into this atmosphere of distrust, hos-
tility, fear and death, the United States
has attempted to bring peace to the
region. As Israel has attempted to imple-
ment the agreements reached at Sharm
el-Sheikh, nothing has been heard from
the Palestinian Authority. Here is a case
of, "Give me a carrot, and then give me
the bunch." Apparently, there is no end
to the demands of the Palestinian
Authority, and it will not be satisfied
until Israel is no more.
We Americans owe it to the world
to stand by the only true democracy
in the Middle East. Israel is the only
nation in the area that has steadfastly
been friendly to our nation. Aid to
Israel must not be compromised, nor
additional strings attached. We must
insist that all of the holy sites in Israel
— Jew, Muslim and Christian — be
open to all. Indeed, sites that have
been destroyed should be rebuilt by
the perpetrators, a sign that they really
do want to live in peace.
Let us ask that our government
advocate peaceful negotiations in the
Middle East, and not reduce military
or humanitarian aid to Israel. Let us
insist that all-agreed-upon accords
between Israel and the Palestinians be
promptly implemented.
Let us ask that the violence in the
Palestinian areas, and throughout
Israel, be condemned by all civilized
nations of the world.
Zachary M. Davies
Oak Park
Peaceful Attitude
Is One-Sided
The Torah Portion, "Straighten Our
Priorities: Put Human Life Before
Land" (Nov. 24, page 73), tries to be
evenhanded, and the writer tries to
equate Palestinian violence with Israeli
reprisals by stating: "Palestinians are
killing Jews and Jews are killing Pales-
tinians ultimately over who "owns"
Jerusalem and the land of Israel."
On Nov. 30, the New York Times
reported that a poll of Palestinians
found 75 percent of the respondents
supporting the bombing of Israeli
school buses. Whereas the Palestinian
mentality backs the killing of school-
children, Israelis unanimously con-
done violent acts only in self-defense
or as a response to terrorist atrocities.
The writer admonishes both sides
to share the land, for any "imposition
of suffering upon others to protect or
assert a claim over any piece of real
estate, especially God's Holy Land of
Israel — is ultimately arrogance, folly
and desecration." It should be pointed
out that Israelis of all persuasions have
no problem living side by side with
Arab neighbors, towns and cities. It is,
unfortunately, the Arabs who refuse to
live alongside the Jews.
Ultimately, it is the Shulchan Aruch,
the code of Jewish law, which serves as
the arbiter of Jewish issues. A perusal of
Orach Chaim (chapter 329, paragraph
6) tells us that enemies who attempt to
infringe on the borders of Israel are to be
viewed as murderers who must be elimi-
nated in self-defense. It is apparent that
this writer's position is contrary to the
Shulchan Aruch.
Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg
West Bloomfield