Israel must act Denver Post Monday, February 18, 2002 - According to Linda Chavez's column of Jan. 30, "Israel must be allowed to defend itself - and if that means a full scale assault on the West Bank and Gaza, so be it."

I was just in the West Bank for a month and felt Palestinians were already
under constant siege by Israel. Dozens of Israeli tanks had invaded most
major cities; U.S.-provided F-16s and helicopter gunships were bombing police
stations, apartments and schools; Israeli death squads were assassinating
Palestinians; military barriers and roadblocks controlled nearly all
Palestinian life; illegal Israeli settlements were expanding; and dozens of
Palestinian homes were demolished.

This is how Israel "defends itself"? What does Chavez want, genocide? Safety
and security is due Israelis and Palestinians. How to make this happen?
Israel needs to end the 35-year illegal occupation of Palestine, fairly
address the issue of the 5 million Palestinians in exile, give back East
Jerusalem (all called for in UN resolutions) and then we can start to talk
about peace.


MARK SCHNEIDER
Denver