Israel Is at War With the Palestinians

It was inevitable that, after another series of cruel and pointless suicide bombings by radical Palestinian terrorists, Israel would respond with its far greater military might, as it did Monday, and so continue the cycle of deadly violence. It seems that we here in America have been convinced that the fault lies with everybody else except Israel, and any voice to the contrary is quietly brushed aside.

What are we afraid of? The truth is that Israel is as out of control and barely distinguishable from Hamas or any other hate group at this point. This is not a war against terrorism that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is waging, it is simply a war. As long as the U.S. sits on the sidelines and wrings its hands in useless protest, the fighting will go on.

Bob Loza

Burbank

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Again we see the horror of mutilated bodies, blood on the streets and funerals (Dec. 2-3). Arab terrorism is the same, whether it happens in Jerusalem or Haifa or at the World Trade Center. The Taliban is paying now for the crime of harboring terrorists in its territory. It is time that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat pays also, for harboring terrorists and allowing them to conduct their bloody business from the territories he now controls. If the land he controls now serves as a base for mass murder and criminal activity, he should not be allowed to keep it. The fact that he condemns the terrorists’ acts is irrelevant.

Victor Gura

Los Angeles

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Arafat either hasn’t the ability to stop the terrorist attacks against Israel or doesn’t want to. In either case he has nothing to offer. Why, then, would the Israelis be negotiating with him at all?

S. Dell Scott

Encino

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President Bush seems to be a little late in expressing his horror (“U.S. Tells Arafat to Curb Violence or Risk Isolation,� Dec. 3). Had he expressed horror when Israel systematically invaded, confiscated and settled on Palestinian land, all of this might not have occurred. Remember, Israel has stated that it has no intention of stopping its invasion and settlements.

If any portion of the U.S. were invaded and its citizens evicted, you can bet on it that Bush would bomb and strafe until the invaders were evicted. When Bush speaks only for the Israeli side, it appears that he is being influenced (governed) by a few pro-Israel people and not the rest of the nation.

Earle V. McNeil

San Clemente

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When American civilians were attacked on Sept. 11, the immediate U.S. response was to bomb the attackers in their Afghanistan headquarters. And we’re still bombing Bin Laden and his henchmen. I would encourage the Israelis to do the same following the most recent vicious suicide attacks on their civilians.

Israel should launch an all-out bombing campaign against the terrorist people known as the Palestinians. Get rid of terrorist Arafat and his followers once and for all.

Marlena Bricker

Cypress