To the editor:

There is no justification for Palestinian “homicide” bombers. But isn’t it about time that we say that there is no justification for colonial expansion? Isn’t it time that we ask in specific detail the justification for the “collateral damage” of this latest expansion? What about Issa Faraj, a Palestinian father, who early during the occupation of the Dheisheh refugee camp (and just exactly what does “refugee camp” mean anyway?) was shot and killed by “warning shoots” while playing with his children in their home?

An argument could be made that Israel is the last European colonial power seeking to expand its territory by taking the land of others. The nation of Israel was created by fiat in 1948 by the great Western powers. Arguing over this is moot. They exist; they are a recognized state and they have a right to secure and safe borders. It is time for those of us who created the state of Israel to heed the words so often repeated, most recently by Secretary General Kofi Annan, and guarantee the safety of these borders with peacekeepers. It is time that the United States insists on this for the security of our friend Israel and for our future friend, the incipient Palestinian state.

James Dick,

Lawrence