To the editor:

Danne Hautmann’s letter is the most hateful I have seen in this paper. Likening the conflict to Hitler’s “final solution” is an insult to the intelligence of any thinking person. Arabs have initiated violence and Bin Laden-style terrorism against the Jews since the Jerusalem riots of April 1920, when shops and homes were looted and burned. They have bombed civilians for most of the past century. In 1967, during the most sacred of Jewish holidays, five Arab nations attacked Israel with the intention of destroying it forever. The Jews fought to defend themselves and won. Ever since then, Israel has been forced by absolute necessity to adopt a fierce strategy of “homeland security” at tremendous economic and social cost. (Americans have barely had a taste of what this is like.)

Hautmann repeats lies in the spirit of a recent article in a Saudi newspaper claiming that Jews use human blood to make bread for Passover. Judaism does NOT teach that non-Jews are unworthy of life, but teaches respect for all regardless of religion. “Goyim” does NOT mean animals, but “nations.”

The real hypocrite is George Bush, who vows to root out terrorism when the U.S. is attacked but tells Israel to back off when its own citizens are being bombed in shopping malls and restaurants! Israel has a right to exist. Arabs must accept this and terrorism must fail. Until this happens, Palestinians will suffer the consequences of their own legacy of hate and unthinkable acts of violence.

John W. Hoopes,

Lawrence