Sir: The affairs of the world are in such a
sorry state that it is absolutely essential for the thinking public to receive balanced presentations on issues of international importance. Here The Spectator invariably plays a salutary part. One such issue is the Arab/Israeli confrontation and here, as elsewhere, it is imperative to eschew cheap propaganda tactics. In this connection, may I draw the attention of your readers to a couple of really dreadful misrepresentations made by Mr Michael Adams (September 11) apropos my letter published in your columns on September 3.
In the first place, I never said that: "it is difficult now to say how many of the Palestinian refugees fled from Palestine in 1948 out of simple fear for their lives and how many were driven out by the Israelis" as Mr Adams inferred. My actual words were: " The precise responsibility for the creation of the Arab refugee problem is indeed very hard to gauge."
Further, I never stated that Sir John Glubb, in his book A soldier with the Arabs made no specific accusation against the Israelis. Mr MacKenzie in a reference to the Arab refugees (August 14) quoted from Sir John Glubb's book, as follows: "People who have decided to move house do not do so in such a hurry that they lose other members of their family — husband losing sight of his wife, or parents of their children. The fact is that the majority left in panic flight, to escape massacre (page 25)" to which I (rightly) replied that the quotation Mr MacKenzie produced made no specific accusations against the Israelis. No more, no less.
In any case, Sir John Glubb is just about the last authority to cite on any issue affecting Israel and the Arabs in view of (a) his known anti-Israel views, and (b) the part that the Arab Legion (of which he was commander in 1948) played in bringing war — and the subsequent refugee problem to Palestine.
Mr Adams also claimed that the Israelis have refused to allow the Arab refugees to return. However, as an authority on the Middle East. I presume that Mr Adams is aware of the UN Resolution (194/3) passed in November 1948 which refers to the resettlement as well as the repatriation of the Arab refugees. As it happens Israel took back 30,000 refugees immediately after the War of Independence, and a further 32,000 in the early 'fifties, under a family reunion scheme. Bearing this in mind, and also bearing in mind the help that Israel has given to the Arab population of the West Bank, as well as the technical aid it has extended to eighty-seven developing countries throughout the world, Mr Adams reference to " Israel's moral millstones" is quite laughable. As an apparent (and passionate) believer, in moral values he would, 'I sug: gest, be far better 'employed in drawing attention to the police state methods (with all its terrible
concomitants) of the , Arab countries he supports. Having said all this, might I appeal to the Arabs and their supporters to participate in constructive thinking on the future of the refugees. The financial and physical resources to effectively solve the problem are available, and I am sure that the Israelis themselves would lean over backwards in any scheme enabling Arab refugees to remould their lives in a peaceful environment.
Morris Gerschlick 29 The Drive, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex.
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