Israel right only through might
Matthew Knee writes that Palestinians are somehow responsible
for their own suffering when he suggests they relieve it by
emigrating from Israel (“Attacks
on Israel are really aimed at Western society,”
Viewpoint, Jan. 18).
He seems to expect the Palestinians, a people who have lived in
Palestine for hundreds, if not thousands of years to quietly
alleviate their suffering by packing up and leaving their homeland
to Israelis who have, in relative terms, just moved in.
Israel continues to suppress Palestinian efforts to regain land,
dignity and self-determination, a process which has manifested
itself in disheartening acts of violence on both sides.
But don’t let this fool you into believing the conflict is
due to Palestinian aggression, that one side advocates peace while
the other does not, or that the two sides are fighting or
negotiating on equal grounds. Although terror, as a tool, can be
and has been used by both governments, the weak are not able to
oppress the strong. Palestinians are armed with rocks and guns, and
the Israeli government is armed with everything else. Oppression in
the Middle East is a one-way street.
Blaming the oppressed Palestinians for their suffering at the
hands of Israeli occupiers is almost cliché in Knee’s
misdirected dialogue. It has framed the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict as a religious conflict ““ or even a clash of
civilizations ““ but deflects discussion away from what is
really at the heart of the problem: a conflict about land which
Jews have won control over.
Perhaps might does make right.
Darren Wang Third-year Political science
Israel acting in self-defense
In Kyu Noh states Zionist Israelis are “colonizing”
the “indigenous” Palestinians. (“Palestine
does not deserve all the blame,” Viewpoint, Jan. 22).
Maybe my history is a little hazy, but Jews have been around
much longer than Palestinians; they occupied Palestine thousands of
years before the Palestinians even came together as a people.
Noh says Ariel Sharon “did everything to escalate the
conflict and make it more bloody.” But Israelis only attack
in self-defense when Palestinians threaten them. And Israelis are
humane enough to tell the Palestinians which buildings they are
going to destroy so they can evacuate them.
Noh blames Israel for expelling hundreds of Palestinians as a
result of the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars. However, both wars
were initiated by the Arab countries who invaded Israel. And
instead of expelling all the Palestinians from land rightfully
taken in war, the Israelis let most of them stay. The hundreds Noh
claims were “expelled” were exactly that: hundreds
(most of them militants).
Palestinians do not want peace; they want a Palestinian state to
replace Israel. And as Americans, we cannot turn our back on our
allies.
James Kim Second-year Business economics
Civil liberties not expendable
I am writing in response to Anna S. Perez’ submission,
“Suspension
of civil liberties necessary in crucial periods,”
(Viewpoint, Jan. 23):
I used to agree with Perez’s point of view ““ that
suspending civil liberties is sometimes justifiable ““ until
my wife and I went to hear Wen Ho Lee at the James West Alumni
Center Sunday. The thing she doesn’t mention, or perhaps has
not realized, is how a good system of government can be perverted
and misused by demagogues and racists.
Leonard Auslender Alumnus Class of 1963