Iraqi Missiles Attack Israel

The mere possibility that Arab states may drop out of the anti-Hussein coalition in the event Israel exercises its moral prerogative to retaliate for an unprovoked attack on heavily populated civilian areas points up the absurdity of blaming Israel for the absence of peace in the Mideast.

Even Hosni Mubarak has been less than resolute in supporting Israel’s right to self-defense, despite the facts that the two countries are signatories to a peace treaty, and Israel returned to Egypt the oil-rich Sinai which had been captured from Egypt in its vicious aggression. His waffling puts the lie to the phrase “land for peace.”

The Arab states hate Israel more than they fear an imminent threat to their own sovereignty, which Hussein-led Iraq clearly represents. The hate began in 1948, the moment Israel came into existence, not 19 years later when it captured the West Bank after repulsing a Jordanian attack. At the time, there was no “Palestinian question.” When will public sentiment demand that Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, et al abandon their 40-year-old declarations of war?

JOEL ENGEL

Topanga