The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Conservative Reaction

4.24.02 @ 12:02AM

(Page 2 of 3)

So the way the world is, per John Corry, that absent the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a political solution to the war in the Middle East could be reached. Even in light of the following:

1. 90% of the land which comprised the original Palestinian Mandate is what is now Jordan, which slaughtered thousands of Palestinians.

2. In 1948, 1956, and 1967, when the West Bank and Gaza were parts of Jordan and Egypt, respectively, Israel was attacked by Arab armies, defeated them, and occupies these territories to buffer themselves from Arab hate.

3. Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups have, in there very charters, the destruction of Israel as their ultimate purpose; as does the PLO and Arafat. Not the return of the occupied territories, but the death of every Jew.

4. During the Gulf War, in which Israel was not involved, Iraq lobbed Scud missiles into Israeli neighborhoods, killing innocent civilians of a nation not participating in the conflict.

5. Arafat was offered 95% of the land he wanted for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Camp David talks in 2000, and refused.

In light of the above, and the facts that Arafat has broken every single accord, treaty, cease-fire, and agreement he has ever signed with terror and murder, that every day, media in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and other Islamic nations spew the vilest blasphemy about Israel and the Jews, call them pigs and monkeys, that Arab children are paraded about with mock grenades and explosive belts, and effete, "morally superior" Europe is wracked with anti-Semitic violence -- despite all that, Corry would have Israel withdraw, stop the very same defense it has mounted against this hatred as has the U.S., and sit at a table with those who despise them and wish them dead. No, Mr. Corry, there comes a time when the real world is one where Israel must defeat its sworn enemies, not one where, after still another "peace process," they are asked by diplomats to suffer more Palestinian violence in silence.

Respectfully,
-- Bob Cavalli
Richmond, VA

John Corry quotes Haaretz as asking, "What is the terrorist infrastructure when anyone can become a suicide bomber?" and states that such a question is "sensible"? Surely Mr. Corry doesn't think that Palestinians, with an average income of less than $1,700 in the year 2000 (when the Palestinian Authority launched its ongoing "intifada"), simply walk out of their houses and blow themselves up, unaided. Estimates on the cost of these bombs range from $150 to $2,000 to make, and that's not factoring in the training and indoctrination courses that many of the bombers are led through by the terrorist leaders in the weeks leading up to the bombing.

If there is no clearly defined, terrorist infrastructure in Palestinian controlled areas, Mr. Corry, why have the suicide bombings (the "successful" ones, anyway) come to a complete halt since Israel moved into the West Bank?

Sadly, Mr. Corry includes Israel and conservative American pundits in his blame for the recent shocking displays of the "return" (ha!) of European anti-Semitism.

Unfortunately for Mr. Corry's contention, these people, just as they displayed in the 1930s, have the exact same worldview as they have had for centuries, and they are the only ones to blame for their typically pathetic actions and words. Luckily, for truly oppressed people across the world, Israel has a friend in American conservatives just as Britain was lucky to have a friend in American conservatives the last time Europe dissolved into an anti-Semitic wasteland. Hopefully the U.S. won't be needed to save the world again this time around, but, of course, it likely will be. At least this time we have a wonderful friend in Israel that will be their with us... even as "enlightened" Europe cowers in the background.
-- Mike Dunlap
New York, NY

John Corry's 4/23 rejection of anything but a political solution to Israel's problems makes two critical mistakes:

(1) His dismissal of settlements as a mistake ignores the relative inability of any Israeli government to stop free Jews from making homes anywhere they can defend (particularly in Judea, their traditional homeland).

(2) Corry says military methods do not stop suicide bombers. Does he think C-3 or C-4 grows on trees? How many untrained teenagers will be crushed under tank treads before the undertaking loses allure?

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Islam, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, Israel