Palestinian, Israeli Sources of Power

* Re “Martyrdom: The Most Powerful Weapon,” by Avigdor Haselkorn, Commentary, Dec. 3:

It is very impressive when Palestinian spokesmen boast about their willingness to sacrifice as many lives as necessary to achieve a state of their own. Not their own lives, of course. What these spokesmen are really boasting about is their control over the lives of their people. Being able to get people to commit suicide on demand is the ultimate sick power trip. Cult leaders have been exercising this supremacy over their subjects for years.

LARRY SHAPIRO

Rancho Mirage

*

How sad it is to see Palestinians defending themselves with rocks and slingshots; even sadder is that over 250 Palestinians have been shot to death recently by the Israelis. But saddest of all is the fact that the Israeli weaponry was purchased with U.S. taxpayer money. Over the last many years the United States has given Israel, a country smaller than the state of Rhode Island, over $100 billion. Under terms of this aid, Israel was allowed to use half of the money to build one of the most sophisticated and formidable armed forces in the world--using the most advanced weapons the U.S. has developed.

The other half of the $100 billion was to be used for infrastructure development--roads, dams, power plants, etc. This, of course, helped broaden the scope of illegal West Bank settlements.

It is not in the Israelis’ best interest to make peace and risk a slowdown in U.S. aid. Only when this subsidy is stopped and each side is on the same footing can there be any hope for peace.

WILLIAM MATHEWS

Redondo Beach