Israel and the Arabs
Sir: Whether it is simple ignorance, or Christian casuistry at its worst, which impels the Rev Tony Crowe to wrest General Dayan's words from context, Arabs in Israel know General Dayan as one who respects them and defends their rights. But if the Rev Mr Crowe drops his Christian mask and brutally hopes that, not morality, not conciliation, but the commercial values of oil-lines will impel America to 'bring pressure to bear on Israel ', then by implication he admits that he does not recognise Israel rights, is not concerned with Arab reconcilation with Israel, but denies the right to existence of Israel. And that kind of double-talk is the reason why Israel has learned to distrust Arab professions of peace (in the interims of defeated war-mongering and propagandising and murder). I await the Rev Mr Crowe's cooing apologetics for the Khartoum atrocity and urge naive Miss Aitken to remember, not only Isiah, but also Jeremiah who warned against those who prate of peace where there is no peace. Even if there were not the most cynical Arab politicising from Egypt and Syria, who have no direct links with Israel, the fact is that Israel exists as the renaissance of a rooted Jewish culture and to talk of a bi-national state is ignorant and impractical nonsense, even if the Arabs did not moot such a fantasy as a means to the Invasion which would help them once again to expel the Jews. But such an event would not disturb the pious Rev Mr Crowe any more than it did the wife of the Anglican minister in Jerusalem. When I reminded her that tilt victory of the Arabs would have encouraged them to drive the Jews into the sea, she said calmly: " Ah, yes, but then the Jews would have had the sympathy of the world." Because General Dayan refuses to allow Jews to be murdered in order to gain sympathy, his friendship for the Arabs is accompanied by that defence against their treachery achieved by colonisation and military strength. An anonymous Arab rang me up to tell me frankly that the Arabs propose to use any means, fair or foul, to win control. And since we are confronted almost every day by their deeds, nonetheless barbaric for being insane, Israel must defend herself against immoral Arabs and Christian clerics.
Henry Adler 3 Roland Gardens, London SW7
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