Israel Leaves South Lebanon

Re “Israel Leaves South Lebanon After 22 Years,” May 24: As the Israeli army abandons the occupied zone in southern Lebanon and busloads of weary Lebanese cross into Israel, I fear a new Book of Exodus is being written and the age-old vision of a Promised Land never more unfulfilled.

MIKE NALLY

Anaheim

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Michael Ramirez’s May 24 cartoon shows a mob of rats labeled “Hezbollah” attacking a plate of food identified as “S. Lebanon.” This attempt to blame Hezbollah, the Muslim extremist group (and by inference all Muslims), for the current state of misery and strife in the “holy land” is wide of the mark.

The real culprits are extreme nationalism, ethnic hatred and religious bigotry, which are the operative policy of Israeli and Muslim alike; the various groups involved seldom take time to attempt to build bridges or cultivate friendships with people of different groups. They should adopt the Rodney King admonition, “Why can’t we all just get along?” which is worth more than all the diplomatic maneuvering ever done on this planet in the cause of peace.

ROBERT W. LOVELL

Huntington Beach

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Ramirez’s cartoon mocks reality. The cartoon insinuates that Israel has a claim to parts of Lebanon. It does not.

The so-called south Lebanon “buffer zone” was nothing more than Lebanese territory occupied since 1982, when former Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon led an Israeli invasion into Lebanon, an invasion that virtually overthrew Lebanon’s government, leading to its present state of chaos.

In fact, Israel has violated United Nations Resolution 242 since 1967, a resolution that called for Israeli withdrawal from all territories that it had occupied since the Six-Day War of the same year.

DON PIERSTORFF

Costa Mesa