Palestinians

Press, 24 July 1986, Page 24

Palestinians

Sir,—Arab leaders had threatened Israel with extinction for many years prior to 1967, and these threats could not easily be dismissed as idle. It was in the wake of the 1967 war that the Arabs officially opted at the Khartoum conference fbr a policy of immobility. It was only normal for Israel to act accordingly. Had Israel not firmed up, it would have been taken as a sign of weakness, as Arabs respected strength alone. However, the Prime Minister, David BenGurion, on various occasions stated that a strong army was no substitute for a political solution. Later Mr Dayan, Mrs Golda

Meir, Mr Israel Galili and others grew quite pessimistic about hopes for a peace settlement. If the Arabs continue their unwillingness to talk, Israel will have to wait for the Arabs to accept her. Only after such acceptance can the two partners find acceptable solutions to the outstanding questions. — Yours, etc.,

JOEL MANYAM. July 21, 1986.

Sir,—J. Manyam (July 21) seems obsessed with trying to persuade your readers that a massacre did not occur at Deir Yassin in Palestine in 1948. He uses dubious quotes with no sources given, saying for example that “the Jews never intended to harm the population of the village, but were forced to' do so ...” What a ludicrous statement. Any examination of independent witnesses’ reports (e.g. the Red Cross) will verify the massacre of Deir Yassin in all its barbaric details. The civilians of Deir Yassin had no

weapons, the so-called “Arab soldiers” and “Arab snipers” J. Manyam claims were present are a figment of his imagination. He is using the age-old ploy that if you repeat something often enough (however false or inaccurate) people will begin to believe you. I will not. One of the survivors of the Deir .Yassin massacre was my father. — Yours, etc., ' S. GANI. July 21, 1986.