To the editor:

I’ve grown tired of news articles that portray Palestinian people as barbarians. Palestinians are human beings, just like you and me. Except that they live under the worst possible circumstances. In the Six Day War, they were forced from their homes to make room for the nation of Israel. Their displacement and subsequent long-standing oppression likens them, in my mind, to apartheid in South Africa and to the continuing plight of Native Americans in the United States.

Worse than reservations, Palestinians live in small internment camps. They are allowed to come and go, (for work, food, medical care) only at the whim of Israeli military guards using American guns, tanks and helicopters. They are beaten and fired upon indiscriminately.

Another similarity to reservations: When Israel needs more land, it pushes the Palestinians onto smaller and smaller lands. Daily, Palestinian people are displaced and their homes knocked down to make room for Israeli settlement.

Every year, the United States gives the nation of Israel $720 million in general aid and $2 billion in military aid. Every day, using the money and military equipment the United States gives them, the Israeli army works to terrorize, blockade, starve and kill Palestinian men, women and children.

American papers report that Israelis live in fear for their lives because of terrorist acts committed against them by Palestinians. Considering the conditions Palestinians live in, I’d call those attacks “fighting back.” What would you call it?

Melanie R. Schnebelen,

Lawrence