Baker’s Warning to the Israelis

The insightful reporting by Williams regarding the demythologizing of Israeli armies goes a long way to help that nation understand the hurt that it has inflicted upon its Palestinian Arab neighbors. When the final words are written about the Israeli war machine, it will bear little likeness to the shortsighted “triumphalism” that has passed for history in the years before and after the War of Independence in 1948.

The Times has tried to report the contrary opinions that are allowed to be aired inside of Israel. The Williams’ piece published a list of authors-as-critics of Israel military establishment. With the exception of one or two of these writers, the rest are not known in the United States. The TV documentary reporting the Palestinian uprising, “Days of Rage” (Howard Rosenberg, April 22 review), sits on a shelf in some PBS library. This is another glaring example of how this nation is denied an opportunity to observe a documentary on the excesses of the Israeli army in the occupation of Palestine.

Unemployed myth makers in Israel can be sure that a job awaits them in this country. We have not had our fill of the stereotype--Israel as David and the enemies of Israel as Goliath.

DAVID BENTLEY

Altadena