American Foreign Policy,

Security And The Middle East

To the Editor:

Regarding Larissa Lytwyn’s article (Wheels of Justice) in the December 3, 2004, issue of The Bee, I would like to comment on statements made by Professor Qumsiyeh, a Palestinian, from Yale University. Regardless of his stature as a scientist, Professor Qumsiyeh is hardly the person to be invited to any objective forum to discuss issues of justice and fairness. Just last year he distributed an email calling Jewish students from an Israel advocacy group as a “pro-war cabal.” A couple of months earlier this professor sent another email that linked to an article containing a list of “Prominent Jews in the Media.” In a January 24, 2003, column for the Yale Herald, Qumsiyeh wrote that “Hitler thought highly of Zionists and Zionists regularly collaborated with the Nazis.” This anti-Semitic propaganda in the style of the villainous “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” only helps polarize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reduces the chances of success of a real peace process. I would not address in this letter the 100-year-old conflict except by quoting a past Israeli prime minister who said that the “Palestinians have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Their refusal to accept a Palestinian state on 97 percent of the West Bank (an offer made by Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Baraq) only helps illuminate the above statement.

It is important to recognize that the US relationship with Israel is based on values shared by the two countries, values which are not shared by even one of the Muslim countries surrounding Israel: freedom of speech, democracy, religious tolerance, women’s rights, impartial social policies, fair and open court system (even to the worst of terrorists), access to health care, democratically elected leaders who do not steal billions of dollars sent by the world’s nations to help their constituents and more. When American Presidents, Democrats or Republicans, support Israel, it is because they know they deal with a country which, like the United States, will fight terror, protect its citizens while maintaining dignity, and not surrender to threatening fundamentalism. This support has to do with the belief that siding with Israel will help the United States maintain its own position as a “light to the nations.” Presenting American support of Israel as emerging for other reasons is an attempt to throw sand in the eyes of the readers. It masks true issues including the need to stop terrorists who blow up pizzerias and buses crowded with women and children. It is an attempt to avoid recognition that peace can be achieved only when a nation decides it genuinely wishes to live in peace with its neighbors. The Palestinians, as evidenced by comments made by Professor Qumsiyeh and other passengers on the “Wheels of Justice,” have not reached that point yet. When they do, they will find an eager partner on the other side of the wall.

Eitan Kilchevsky

9 Equestrian Ridge, Newtown                                December 6, 2004