Whose war is it?

A Letter to Burlington Free Press    April 14, 2001

        State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the Israeli building of settlements on the West Bank provocative, inflammatory and aggressive. He also remarked that,"( We) don't think that continued activity like this contribute to peace or stability." Yet, as reported recently in the Herald Tribune, Israel has no plans to stop. Quite the contrary: plans are in the works to build 3,000 new homes in Arab East Jerusalem.

        Likewise, Collin Powell's recommendation to the Israelis to lift the siege imprisoning the Palestinians goes ignored. They cannot provide for their families without work, access medical care or communicate with relatives and friends. Their already minimal freedoms are further restricted. It is inevitable, given the oppression which makes their daily lives, that they would rebel.

        More than 400 people, overwhelmingly Palestinians, have been killed in this latest uprising. Stone-throwing is reciprocated with bullets and bombs. Still, Bush admonishes Arafat to "stop the violence." While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warns that no further talks will occur until the violence stops, he drops bombs, killing civilians and destroying homes.

        Who is inciting violence here, and who is flooding the Israeli war machine with billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars annually?

        While one cannot call the Palestinians pacifists, neither can it be said that they have received a fair treatment from the previous or present U.S. administrations.

MARIANNE J. WARD

Burlington