Expulsion of 415 Palestinians
Israel’s deportation of 415 Palestinians is wrong for at least three reasons: 1) It is illegal (according to Israeli, as well as international, law). 2) It is only the most recent example of a sick policy of collective punishment. 3) It may well destroy what is left of the peace process.
According to The Times (Dec. 18), “Rabin said that the usual legal procedures were bypassed because they have proved to be too slow.” That is the road to authoritarianism. Israel has a long history of inflicting collective punishments (e.g., blowing up houses) for individual actions. I believe that killings, whether of Israeli soldiers in the occupied territories, or of Palestinian youths opposing the occupation, are to be deplored. However, when a government reacts by punishing not those found responsible, but others who are innocent except for the “crime” of being a Palestinian or being an Islamic Fundamentalist that is also deplorable. The deportations will certainly cause harm to, if not destroy, what is left of the peace process.
STEVE ROSE
Los Angeles
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