LETTERS
Israeli organization doesn't deserve criticism
The writer of a Jan. 13 letter to The Ann Arbor News decries the fact that charitable gifts may be given to the Michigan Friends of the Israeli Defense Force. She should realize that this is an organization akin to our USO, that none of the money is used to buy bullets or arms.
She is wrong in stating that the Israeli High Court has declared the fence that Israel is building to protect its citizens is illegal.
The court told Israel to move the fence (not a high wall, as she states) in one area to minimize any distress to the Palestinians, and Israel instantly complied.
Palestinian suicide bombers target children, teenagers, and families, and checkpoints and the fence have been very effective in minimizing these terrorist attacks.
What would the writer have the Israelis do? She says good relations and security will come about when Israel withdraws from the Palestinian territory. Ah, but there's the rub. Palestinian children are shown maps in which Israel does not appear.
All of Israel is labeled as Palestinian, and in school programs, after-school programs, TV and radio programs, Palestinian children are taught to hate the Jews. They have been inculcated in a death culture where aspiring to kill as many innocent people as possible in suicide attacks is taught as a worthy goal.
We should not forget that the Palestinian Liberation Organization was formed in 1964, before there were any "territories."
The area that was to be "liberated" was Israel.
Sara Mendel, Ann Arbor