One Side of the Story

By Miriam Ward

Gov. Howard Dean met in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (Free Press, Dec. 4). He gets one side of the story and reports that "Arafat must go."

Did he go to Bethlehem where a "lockdown" curfew has been in effect for a total of 112 days since March 28? Did he see the malnourished Palestinian children? Did he see the Palestinians' uprooted olive trees and livelihood destroyed? Did he visit families whose homes have been demolished by Israeli bulldozers? Did he go to Ramallah to see the Palestinian headquarters in shambles?

Before George Bush picked up Sharon's line, and now Dean's, that Arafat must go, a serious movement toward leadership reform was shaping up within Palestinian society. But to place the burden for peace on the weaker party is a cop-out.

Miriam Ward

Photo credits: Photos courtesy Ben Scribner, International Solidarity Movement