Lebanon’s Peace and Israel

Here is an old joke that is quite pertinent to the column on Lebanon. The joke has to do with the lack of logic in anti-Semitism: A Nazi asks, “Do you know who is responsible for all the misery in the world?” “Sure,” says the other man. “It is the Jews and the bicycle riders!” The Nazi is perplexed. “What do the bicycle riders have to do with it?” he says. “Well, what do the Jews have to do with it?” says the other.

The column on the Lebanon situation would be almost funny if it weren’t so sad. The writer blames the slaughter in Lebanon on Israel and its occupation of “the southern part of the country.” Really? Is he sure that it isn’t Israel and the bicycle riders? The shells that kill civilians in Beirut are not fired by Israelis; the army that occupies and governs most of the country is Syrian, not Israeli, and the thousands of refugees--many of whom have found safety in the 10-mile strip of land along the Israeli border--have not been made homeless by Israel.

STEVEN J. GALAIF

Panorama City