Mideast: Public’s Attitudes Count

Re “Blast at Israeli Mall Kills 2,” May 28: That Israel continues to blame Yasser Arafat for the latest suicide bombing near Tel Aviv indicates the level of narrow-mindedness and lack of vision possessed by its leadership. Much the same as our own leaders, who believe that a show of superior military might is the final solution to acts of terrorism, Ariel Sharon and company are completely clueless about the tenacity and determination of certain religious and social fanatics who operate according to their own agenda and do not respond to political rhetoric or armed incursions. They are as likely to obey Arafat as they are President Bush when it comes to cessation of their heinous activities.

We would all be better served if this “war” against terrorism took into account the fundamentalist mind-set of the terrorists themselves, as well as the destruction of buildings and infrastructure. The attitudes of the civilians who feel the impact of such actions most heavily are ignored at our peril.

Bob Loza

Burbank

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Re Shibley Telhami and Steve Kull’s “Public, Leaders a Poll Apart,” Opinion, May 26: The fact is that most average Americans with knowledge of the Middle East support Israel. Perhaps I can illustrate with my own poll questions.

Which country in the Middle East: Has been our loyal ally since its formation and single-handedly defeated the Russians in the Middle East during the Cold War? Saved thousands of American lives during the Gulf War by destroying Saddam Hussein’s nuclear plant in 1981 at Osirak? Is the only country in the Middle East that is a democracy; the only country where Arabs have the right to vote, enjoy due process of law and freedom of speech and the press? Is the only country in the Middle East to offer Bush total support during the war on terrorism?

Most Americans know that the answer to these questions is Israel, just as they realize that Israel is on the front lines along with the U.S. in fighting terrorism. And so do most of America’s leaders.

Robert Miller

La Crescenta

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In response to Steven Feiles’ May 22 letter, I should like to state emphatically that not all Christians and political right-wingers support the state of Israel.

My background is Jewish, and I have been an evangelical, born-again believer most of my life, not to mention 15 straight years as a conservative activist. I reject the notion that Christians must condone the repression of the Palestinians because somehow God commands it. It’s not in my Bible.

Equally false is the idea that the Zionist creation of modern Israel is part of prophecy or a divine miracle, when it’s nothing more than a band of thugs occupying somebody else’s land. The regathering of the 12 lost tribes will come in a future dispensation, as per God’s promise.

Aric Leavitt

Los Angeles

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In “Israeli Ruling Puts a Freeze on Family Ties” (May 24), an Israeli Arab woman married to a Palestinian and complaining about her husband not being able to visit her in Israel answers the question of why she doesn’t move to the West Bank, saying, “It’s really difficult for someone who lives in heaven to come and live in hell.”

This “heaven” that the Arabs are trying their best to destroy was a desert full of malaria 50 years ago and only became this jewel of democracy through the hard work of Jewish settlers. Since the Oslo agreement, Palestinians have had equal opportunities to start building the West Bank and Gaza into a heaven, but instead of learning from their neighbors they have chosen terror, destruction and murder.

Fariba Ghodsian

Los Angeles