Two-way persecution
From Dr E.G. Klepfish Sir: It may perhaps come as a disappointment to your correspondent Emma Williams (The reek of injustice', 17 May), but I shall not dwell on her anti-Semitism. What do I care whether she likes or dislikes our long noses, dark eyes, chess and violin skills, and poor football perfor mance? But I do resent her economy with the truth. from 'marauding settlers', through apocryphal stories of the IDF taunting and deliberately targeting Arab children, to the ostracism of the Israeli supporters of the Arab cause in Israeli society 'founded on military service'.
On the alleged pro-Israeli bias, shall I recall the poor child from Gaza caught in crossfire between the IDF and the terrorists? The boy had been killed by an Arab bullet, as was established unambiguously by an independent German inquiry. Nonetheless, the IDF was persistently blamed even after the truth came out. Or the celebrated Jenin massacre, which never happened but which few reporters ever retracted?
'Marauding settlers'? The settlers are murdered, almost daily, in drive-by shootings by Arabs, and yet in the last two and a half years of the violence there have been no attacks by the settlers on their Arab neighbours — none whatsoever. It is worth remembering that Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are major job and wealth providers for
the local Arabs, and issuing more permits to be employed there, as well as inside the pre-1967 borders, is a demand repeatedly directed towards Israeli authorities.
It is unlikely that Emma Williams's own children were deliberately targeted by the IDF. An army that eliminated a proven terrorist by putting an air-to-surface missile through his living-room window would not find it difficult to kill two small children. But, unlike Arab children, Jewish children are not killed by mistake. One-year-old Shalhevet Pas was shot deliberately by a sniper in Hebron; two Jewish teenage hikers caught by Arab peasants were stoned and their heads smashed; and scores of Jewish teenagers have been blown up in attacks on cafés and discotheques.
Contrary to Williams's claim, the socalled peace activists are not ostracised by their own society. Amira Hass and Gideon Lew are prominent Israeli journalists enjoying wide publicity through Israeli printed and electronic media. Their salaries are significantly higher than those of IDF career officers. The reservists refusing to serve in the occupied territories exchange 35 days of mortal danger for a less glamorous but nonetheless far safer time in military prison. Their jobs and careers, studies and social status are not in danger. They risk the contempt of the more committed and less cowardly men of the regiment, but they probably regard that as an occupational — or should I say 'non-occupational'? — hazard.
E.G. Klepfish London NW11
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