To the Editor,

Your editorial of 6-20-2002, “Gone up in Jerusalem smoke,” made some
very good points. What is lacking however is the explanation of all the
discouragement and brutality endured by the average Palestinian citizen
for years. And especially the last 2 years.

The Israeli Government should have followed UN Res. 242 in 1967, as
they are required to. This means that they would have gotten out of the
territories and settled the refugee problem. The United States should
have seen to it that they did this. Instead, we not only did nothing, but
rewarded them with billions of our tax dollars and military equipment. The effect of this was the aggressive settlement building and the armed might to protect this illegal colonization.

Time is of the essence. The settlements grow every day.
Palestinian self defense against this will also.

Doug Willbanks

Status: Published