Depiction of Israelis full of misconceptions

To the Editor:

Uday Gorrepati's editorial [Israelis should use diplomacy, not force, 2/23/96, YH] fails to convince me that Israelis are the bloodthirsty animals that the article suggests that they are. Though it is cloaked in the language of reasoned discourse, Mr. Gorrepati's view is based on ignorance about Israeli society, a willingness to stereotype, and an argument that is logically flawed.

An analysis of the generalizations about Israelis that Mr. Gorrepati makes reveals that they are based on no evidence whatsoever. Why would a nation that is "obsessed with punishing its enemies" vote to implement a peace initiative that is unprecedented in modern Middle Eastern history? If Israelis are committed to war, why did they elect a Labor government that is committed to respecting the Palestinian right to self-determination?

Israeli society is diverse and complex. Though a small minority of Israelis are committed to conflict, mainstream Israeli culture has moved in the opposite direction. Virtually no Israeli citizens are against the peace process. Today, people even worry that Israel is becoming too cosmopolitan and too pacifistic. In short, to claim that Israelis "only understand the language of force" is absurd.

To claim that "Israel must trust its neighbors" to deal with such enemies as Yehya Ayyash is to misunderstand the threat that terrorism poses to the peace process. Terrorists like Ayyash are not simply a threat to Israelis, they threaten the possibility of achieving the most important peace in the history of the Middle East. Terrorism must be attacked without regard for who is doing the job. Israel's developed military forces can accomplish things that the Palestinian Authority cannot yet accomplish.

Mr. Gorrepati's piece also ignores the Israeli perspective on the issue. He speaks of how Israelis do not understand the "language of trust." Yet he ignores the fact that anti-Israel language still pervades the Palestinian Covenant and the speeches that Yasser Arafat gives in Arabic. Gorrepati ignores the ugly history of the Arab-Israeli conflict as he waves the banner of peaceful coexistence. The day after Israel became a state, seven Arab armies attacked Israel with the intention of throwing her into the sea. These events live in the memory of Israelis and make the current process even harder.

The peace process is an extremely complex event that requires careful and open-minded analysis. Simplistic, one-sided views like Mr. Gorrepati's only make things more difficult.

Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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