Things of the past'
sir: It is amusing to watch the contortions of that section , of journalistic opinion that hopes against all odds that peace will not Come to the Middle East and that Israel will at lastdisappear. The latest example, more subtle th'an usual, is 'The Arabs close ranks' by Desmond Stewart (11 November). Starting with the ritual attempt at accusing Israel of racism, without actually using the word, by comparing the proposals for the West Bank With t nhe situation in the Transkei, he continues by examining the Baghdad Coference to find comfort in its warlike pronouncements. He claims that the nineteen reiectionist states 'believe in peace as strongly .. as Egypt, but not a peace which is Contrived between America, Israel and a single Arab state and which excludes the representatives of the Palestinians.' Mr Stewart is careful to ignore the fact that any, el' ail, of those countries could have been had at Camp David and that Israel ti_ad stated that it would have accepted Palestinians as part of the Jordan delegation. , He then flaying produces a story about Israel Al violated the armistice agreement at Auja in the early 1950s. This is highly t.endentious as it is a matter of ite legal rpretation which was finally used by Egypt to totally violate that agreement His final proof that war is joyfully . going to continue in the Middle East is that a farwa Was issued by the Sheikh of Al Azhar in Israel saying that advocating peace with i,lsrael was to commit the gravest sin. If only "4..1'. Stewart had consulted me, I could have fairected his attention to the Fourth Conference Research of the Academy r‘esearch held at the same university r sIslamicty two Years earlier. That conference was a hymn 2f hate, not only against Israel, but against ,_ine whole Jewish People: a principal paper human entitled: 'The Jews are the enemies of tuntrian life as is evident from their holy 000k., Happily all these bellicose attitudes are rapidly becoming things of the past as peace '“i10wly and with difficulty comes to the Middle East. Fortunately nothing that rikesmond Stewart and the others who think r, e him, can do will turn the clock back. `",, avid M. Jacobs e3 Worley Road, St Albans, Herts.
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