Palestine Belongs to Whom?

To the Editors:

What billions of petrodollars will not buy is Israel, a sovereign nation, and this must be made abundantly clear to the Palestinian people. Arafat wishes to complete what Hitler and Stalin were unable to: the wholesale extermination of the Jewish people. This cannot be tolerated. But will the world wake up?

Richard Rebhun

Los Angeles

The land of Palestine seems to have a grip on its people that perhaps is unusual in history. Why doesn't the West understand the Palestinians' love for the land? They who have only been 26 years away, not 2,000, and who have not been scattered all over the earth thousands of miles away? Are the Palestinians less human? Are they less faithful to the land than the Jews?

(Mrs.) Laila El Kony

Minneapolis

Recent events in and concerning the Middle East suggest that creation of a new Palestinian nation is inevitable. The sooner Israel realizes this the sooner a genuine peace will come to that region.

Roderick Murray

San Jose, Calif.

One would think that the Israelis, more than anybody, would know what it is like to be homeless. Yet we see them turn a deaf ear to 3 million people whose land they have seized.

Mrs. I.A. Ismail

Bloomington, Minn.

Whereas the Palestinians want to win their right to a "foothold" within modern Israel (situated in once ancient Israel) through the use of terror, violence and destruction, the returning Jews have earned it through their patient work, building and developing neglected, desolate, malaria-infested land that nobody wanted 100 years ago.

Bella Schultz

Lakewood, N.J.

As I spelled out in a speech at Westminster College, Fulton, Mo., on Nov. 2,1 regard the general outlines of an equitable peace in the Middle East as clear and even obvious: explicit acknowledgment of Israel's right to exist by the Arabs, including the Palestinians; Israeli withdrawal to the approximate borders of 1967, with United Nations forces patrolling demilitarized zones on both sides of Israel's borders; self-determination for the Palestinian people of the West Bank; a special status for the Old City of Jerusalem, providing equal and uninhibited access for members of all faiths; and a general great-power guarantee of the settlement and its terms, under the auspices of the United Nations, reinforced by a direct American treaty guarantee of Israel's independence and territory.

A settlement along these lines would also create a much-improved environment for negotiations on oil supply and prices. It would greatly increase the political influence of Saudi Arabia, and therefore its weight as a force for moderation within OPEC, some of whose non-Arab members, notably Iran and Venezuela, have been most insistent on price increases. Saudi Arabia would be liberated, in effect, to do what King Faisal wants very much to do: cooperate to keep the West, and especially the U.S. on which Saudi Arabia relies, prosperous and strong.

Such an approach would be to Israel's advantage--probably her salvation--because there can be no lasting security for that beleaguered community without a settlement, and there can be no settlement without withdrawal.

J. W. Fulbright

U.S. Senator, Arkansas

Washington, D.C.

The General and the Jews

General George S. Brown deserves the gratitude of all for having the courage to tell the truth [Nov. 25]. A propaganda group has pushed our Government to support Israel, and it is directly contrary to our nation's interests.

Gordon M. Jones

Evanston, III.

I am surprised by such a heavy flak directed at General George S. Brown because of his remarks. He is entitled to his opinion, and if the President disagrees with him while the general sends his apology, there is no need for hysterics.

I hope he does not lose his job because, if he does, it will be proof that he is right. In our secret society, it is high time for our feelings to come to the surface and get some airing.

Joseph Krzywonos

Levittown, N. Y.

I was shocked and dismayed to find that the nation's highest military officer could make such an irresponsible, racist and clearly anti-Semitic comment. It is frightening to think that this man is in a position of national leadership, and that my fate as a Jew may ultimately depend on his decisions.

If the U.S. is to maintain its tradition as a democratic society where persons of all races and religions may live without fear and in freedom, there is no question but that General Brown should be immediately dismissed.

Stephen J. Lehrman

Spring Valley, N. Y.

A National Food Budget

I was pleased to see the special section on "The World Food Crisis" [Nov. 11], but I was appalled to read the sentence: "American Consumer Advocate Esther Peterson already questions the wisdom of providing food for hungry countries when the U.S. cost of living continues to climb." This is the antithesis of my views.

I believe this misunderstanding came from a question I put forth at a State Department briefing in preparation for the World Food Conference in Rome. I said that many American consumers had asked me if providing food to hungry countries would mean higher food costs at home.

This is a valid question that consumers are asking and I was seeking help in obtaining an answer for them. I personally believe we have no other choice but to respond to the plight of the world's hungry people.

What Americans want from their Government is evenhandedness and equity. We need a national food budget to guarantee domestic nutritional needs. Since we have never developed this, we do not really know what level of food supplies we need. If we do not know what we need, we do not know how much we should plan to produce; if we don't know what we need, we don't know how much food we can safely export. And if we don't know how much we can safely export, we cannot say at what level we should practice export restraints. But we do know that we must do what we can to feed hungry people at a time of crisis.

Esther Peterson

Washington, D.C.

The writer was special assistant for consumer affairs to the late President Lyndon B. Johnson.

A No WIN Situation

I find our economy and Government depressing enough at the present time, and I became even more discouraged after reading in Essay that "White House Press Secretary Ronald Nessen was seen wearing his WIN (WHIP INFLATION NOW) button upside down, claiming that NIM spelled out NO IMMEDIATE MIRACLES.

Mr. Nessen and the President might be well advised to open their Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and look up the definition of NIM. They would, with red faces, discover that NIM is a verb, defined: "to take from, steal, filch."

Lars Pedersen

Gloucester, Mass.

Judging from the Ford Administration's accomplishments, I would have to say NIM meant NEBULOUS INDECISIVE MANAGEMENT.

Bob Knuts

Washington, D.C.

The Wear-Dated G.O.P.

How very well Hugh Sidey expressed my sentiments about the old-hat politicking of President Ford during his recent campaign tour! I'm the same age as Mr. Ford, and I can't believe that he still wears the same dated political garment worn during our college years. It's embarrassing, too, that he asked the nation in another outmoded, unscientific piece of advice to clean our plates, and then spent thousands on a dumb campaign. Especially bad, too, was his exhorting the American people to give blanket support to the Republicans. He should have devoted that time and energy to our pressing domestic problems and let the Republican Party donate that sum to a good cause instead of a lost one.

Bess Burke

Beverly Hills, Calif.

I believe the Republican Party now has a historic opportunity to establish itself as the party of idealism and reform. The populist Republican movements following previous national scandals and in the early part of this century provided the leadership, and more important the example, for subsequent national reforms.

I ran a campaign for Congress based on pledges and actual practices of reform. We Republicans must shed our big-business image and become the party of the common man. We can do this in part by ceasing to use "specialinterest" money in our campaigns. My campaign did not accept one penny of special-interest money. I believe the great lobbies' power in Washington could be broken up if special-interest money were ruled out of political campaigns.

In Congress I advocate rotating committee chairmanships and that committee assignment priorities be given by lottery. I advocate limited terms for Congresspersons, and I am committed not to serve longer than eight years if I should be elected and reelected.

In addition to congressional reform, election reform and judicial reform are pressing issues that we Republicans should adopt as a national policy position. I found the voters responsive to these issues in my recent campaign for Congress.

Larry Pressler, Representative-elect,

First District, South Dakota

Humboldt, S. Dak.

The writer is the "McGovern Republican " who upset Democratic Incumbent Frank E. Denholm.

Rocky Road

Where are all the friends of Nelson Rockefeller, those of us who know him and admire his record, his outstanding capabilities, his international stature, his dedication to his country? Where are we now when he needs us, when he is being investigated more carefully than if he were Public Enemy No. 1?

Virginia Mansfield Settle

Vancouver, Wash.

Nelson should have followed the example of Grandfather Rockefeller in the distribution of his wealth--a dime at a time.

W.J. Hegerty

Oklahoma City

The Neolithic Way

Being of Nigerian origin, I do greatly identify with good efforts initiated by any African head of state to promote national pride, unity and economic growth.

So for President Ngarta Tombal-baye of Chad to embark on what I consider a slow, premeditated and malicious extermination of Christians [Nov. 18] is dragging Chadians back to a neolithic way of life from which, ironically, we were all rescued by Christianity and colonialism alike.

Kingsley Esedo

Fall River, Mass.

It's That Time Again

Isn't it evident that Martha Mitchell should be voted Man of the Year for 1974?

Fred N. Tabak

Milwaukee

Superman of the Year, the king of 1974--Muhammad Ali.

He is respected by black and white as a first-class sportsman and gentleman --all over the world.

G. Trevor Robertson

Dist. Knysna, South Africa

I nominate Alexander Solzhenitsyn for Man of the Year.

Peter J. Sinnott

New York City

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