Baker’s Message for Shamir’s New Government

Are my ears deceiving me or did I hear Baker imply that the new Israeli government might be something less than sincere in its claim to be longing for peace! From a Palestinian’s perspective nothing is being done any more ruthlessly with the advent of this new government than has been done almost every day for the last 40 years! The Palestinians have been chased off their land, beaten, detained, tortured, deprived of their human rights, their civil liberties.

It does, however, seem as though Baker is sincere in his desire to see some relief for the Palestinian people and that is a welcome relief for all caring people in this country and the world. Baker has displayed a great deal of human compassion and political responsibility.

Maybe the vision of Baker can serve as a lesson to us all: What the Israeli government is doing today and what it has been doing for the last 40 years is wrong. What is different now is that the people of the world (including Baker) are growing more and more impatient and intolerant of this kind of behavior.

JOE FLEMING

South Gate