To the editor:

There are a few issues regarding the current Mideast crisis that are troubling to me. Suicide bombings are occurring on a regular basis against Israeli civilians and I continue to hear talk from my friends about how Israel is at fault for this.

Their main argument is the issue of Israeli occupation. Granting them this, I point out that in 1947 when area borders were drawn up, both Israelis and Palestinians were displaced. Both regions had the opportunity to form a state. Israel did but the surrounding Arab countries decided instead to invade (a conflict in which they lost). Of these Arab countries, Jordan is the only one today that accepts Palestinians as citizens. Many of these Arab monarchies benefit greatly from oil trade and Western technology.

Much of this prosperity remains within the monarchy and the upper classes, and to keep their power intact they deflect popular criticism by assigning Israel and anyone who supports Israel as the enemy. The result of this propaganda has been wave after wave of terrorism.

Sadly, this menace has spread to the United States and many other countries. Peaceful people have not been threatened to this degree since the rise of Nazi Germany, and never since has there been such a large group of people brainwashed by political dogma. The real enemy in this crisis are the terrorists. The heroes are the ones who want to settle this dispute peacefully by speech and pen. It is my hope that the people in this region look to them for a solution instead of the terrorists.

David J. Klebek,

Lawrence