Rocky Mountain News  --  06-21-02   Rabbi denies reality

The Speakout piece by Rabbi Hillel Goldberg ("Israeli settlements hardly an 'occupation'," June 7) attempts to deny the basic reality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. What else do you call Israeli military rule of Arab land captured in the 1967 war? True, the settlements do not themselves constitute the occupation; they add insult to the injury of occupation.

The Israelis have lost innocent lives due to Palestinian terrorism and thus their security is diminished. However, the Palestinians have also lost innocent lives -- many more, in fact, whether one looks only at the latest uprising or the whole history of the state of Israel. Plus, due to the occupation, they have no security, no political rights, no equality, and little hope for a future.

On balance, although suicide bombings draw more attention and are morally shocking, the Israelis, through their occupation, are harming Palestinians far more than Palestinians are hurting Israelis. It is true that there is no "moral equivalency" here -- the greater violator of morals (and international laws and human rights) is Israel.

Suzanne Ghais