Israel and the Intifada

In his column on the intifada (“A Just Cause Is Not Enough,” Editorial Page, April 15), Walter Reich characterizes the Israeli army as a “police force” exercising “riot control.” If that were the case, the Israeli soldiers would wear riot gear (like South Korean anti-riot forces)--heavy uniforms, shields, and face masks. Instead, the Israelis leave themselves vulnerable to minor injury, and then use the rocks and less frequent firebombs as an excuse to shoot Palestinian teen-agers. Their motive is not only to suppress and disperse, but to terrorize.

By ironic coincidence, Reich’s thoughtful piece appeared the day after special border patrol police attacked the small Palestinian village of Nahhalin while the inhabitants were celebrating Ramadan with a pre-dawn breakfast, and shot the unarmed citizens “without discrimination and without restraint,” as the International Red Cross put it. This moves the Israeli response beyond terrorization to genocidal eradication.

As long as a Jew anywhere is subject to discrimination, I am a Jew. As long as a Palestinian as such is oppressed anywhere, I am a Palestinian. Right now, I am more of a Palestinian than a Jew.

The Israelis must negotiate with the Palestinians through Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization to return the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinians. That will end the intifada , and (with international guarantees) this is the only way to establish long-term security for Israel.

STANLEY ANDERSON

Santa Barbara