In the dock
Sir: As a frequent reader of your columns, and a Zionist who considers himself more moderate than most partisans in the Middle East quarrel, I was stung almost to exasperation by your editorial this week (Spectator, September 23) for its apparent attempt to put Israel in the dock along with Black September.
One realises, of course, that in a thoughtful journal such as yours this may simply have been a balloon to provoke controversy. The propriety of this at the present time, however, must be doubted when one remembers the thousands of volatile Arab students in this country who could — through some of the specious arguments you advance — be tempted to believe that there is a section of British intellectual opinion which might be brainwashed into accepting Arab terrorist acts in this country without much demur. Nor should one ignore the possible pain to mourning friends of Dr Shachori — a man who, incidentally, had been prominent in helping Arab agriculture both in Israel and the occupied territories.
As for the content of your piece, I will not go into it at length except to point out that in the tortuous development of your theme you seem to have overlooked the obvious. Surely, if blood for blood at the rate of ten to one is the basis of Israel's strategy it could easily have taken 110 of the hundreds of terrorist prisoners it holds and shot them — without the loss of a single Israeli soldier. Equally, if it had been as savagely minded as some of its more extreme neighbours, it could find among the 1,000,000 Arabs now under its control plenty of suspects to round up and execute every time there was an outrage.
The truth is that — whatever merit there is in the argument that Western opinion has been too indulgent with Israel for reasons associated with guilt and past history, and whether or not Israel's actions against Arabs are counterproductive — the facts just do not bear out the ' blood ' theory. As further illustration, and as evidence of Israel's basically peaceful intentions, may I just cite two of these facts, facts of which I feel you must be aware, but on which you apparently prefer to turn your Nelson's eye (or should it be Dayan's eye?!).
First, barely six months after the six-day war and in the wake of the Khartoum conference at which the Arab League pledged itself anew to continue the state of war with Israel, Israel released more than 5,000 Egyptian prisoners. At that time the number of Israeli prisoners in Egyptian hands was roughly ten! Second, it is now just five years since the terrorist/ guerrilla campaign (call it what you like) started up in earnest. In all this time, not one captured Arab extremist has been executed! And the numbers run into many hundreds.
W. Kane 59 Woodfield Way, New Southgate, London N11
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