Coexistence Needed for Mideast Peace

* Re “Israel Seizes Land in Gaza, Pulls Out After U.S. Rebuke,” April 18: It must have been very hard for the U.S. administration to muster the courage to say anything critical to Israel. But I am glad Secretary of State Colin Powell finally spoke up about the Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. And look at the result--the Israelis withdrew immediately.

It is time for the United States to stop taking its cues from Israel and American Jews and start thinking in terms of real solutions. Israel must reverse its colonization (settlements) of Palestinian areas and help prop up (not strangulate, as it does now) the economy of Palestine. Otherwise, continued Palestinian poverty will fuel Palestinians’ anger and the presence of settlements nearby will provide easy targets for venting that anger.

Both sides are too angry to see that the only long-term solution is coexistence. The United States can only help them solve their problems if it doesn’t blindly follow Israel’s desires.

AARON ZAHEER

Oceanside

*

* According to Powell, Israel’s response to the mortar shelling of an Israeli town near Gaza was “excessive and disproportionate.”

When the United States retaliates against the Iraqis for firing on our planes, we respond proportionately by firing back at the radar and missile sites from which the firing is initiated. Ours is a measured response, rational, moderate, predictable and ineffective. The Iraqis know what we will do. We know that they know. Everyone is willing to accept the limited risks. And the game goes on. Thousands of miles from home, we can afford the luxury of a measured and limited response.

But if a town in the United States were attacked, would we be as devoted to the doctrine of proportionality? Or would we be more interested in effective deterrence, the protection of American lives and the Powell doctrine of the application of overwhelming force?

MICHAEL LAME

Los Angeles