Prager on Israeli-Arab Conflict

Dennis Prager’s column “Israel’s Destruction Is Arabs Only Goal” and Howard Kaplan’s column “Palestinians Are a Bad Lot” (Commentary, Oct. 12) reflect a one-sided view and anti-Arab prejudice. When my wife and I visited the West Bank and Gaza last December, we met both Palestinians and Israelis who desire only to live in peace as neighbors with a state for both peoples. The Palestinians we met were willing to accept Israel and do not hate the Israeli people. They do, however, hate the suffering imposed by the Israeli military occupation and aspire to national independence.

Because I was there and saw what is happening to the Palestinian people and Israeli society by the military occupation of the Palestinian territories, and because as a taxpayer I help finance the occupation ($3.5-billion U.S. aid to Israel yearly), I must protest the continued repression of the Palestinian people. In addition, I am compelled to protest your headlines that whip up anti-Arab racism and present a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Op-Ed section.

BOB McCLOSKEY, Co-Chair, Palestine Labor Action Network, Los Angeles