Being Anti-Israel Isn’t Anti-Semitic

Re “Israel, an Indispensable Haven,” Commentary, May 8: Walter Reich confuses being anti-Semitic with being anti-Israel. I can be anti-Soviet without being anti-Russian. I can be anti-apartheid without being anti-South African. I can be anti-People’s Republic of China without being anti-Chinese. I can be anti-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea without being anti-Korean. I can be anti-Saddam Hussein without being anti-Iraqi/Muslim/Arab. I can be anti-Israel without being anti-Semitic.

Israel is a state, and as such its actions can be criticized and condemned like any other state’s. If not, then Reich and others of his ilk who cannot discern the difference have a real problem, not I.

Arch Miller

Arcadia

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The bombings of the pool hall (May 8) and, before that, the bus were despicable, horrible and terrifying. Ariel Sharon has two options for stopping them and bringing peace in the region. He can begin by withdrawing from all the settlements, and he will have the support of every country in the world; or he can destroy most of Palestine and kill all young Palestinian men and women and have the support of the United States only. How aggressive, how arrogant, how ruthless would he be without the millions of dollars we send to Israel daily?

Raymond Butler

Los Angeles

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Re “Arafat’s Failure May Offer Seeds of Hope,” Commentary, May 6: Daniel Pipes implores the Palestinians to give up on their half-century dream of eliminating Israel and to accept its existence. They might as well also give up the dream that Israel will ever negotiate to give them their own state on what Israelis say is their land. It’s pretty clear that any Israeli leader who would negotiate a Palestinian state would be put out of office or even, as we have seen, be assassinated. The only way the Palestinians could get their own state would be for the United States to threaten Israel with military action to force it to give up the land. Since that’s not going to happen, what’s now to become of the Palestinians? Perhaps the Palestinians, realizing their situation, should try to negotiate the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for full Israeli citizenship. Israel, the only democracy in the Mideast, should be happy with 3.5million new, smiling countrymen.

Douglas Croixford

Costa Mesa

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The illegal arrest on May 5 of American humanitarian aid workers Dr. Riad Abdelkarim and Dalell Mohmed demonstrates Israel’s complete contempt for the United States and our citizens. It’s amazing that we continue to give billions of dollars of taxpayer money to subsidize a country that will turn around and arrest Americans, including physicians on a humanitarian mission, without any plausible justification. With friends like Israel, who needs enemies?

Bob Ali

Pasadena