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I am writing, as an American Jew, in response to the letters by Messrs. Lappin and Horowitz (2/11/01).  These two have been so blinded by Zionist ideology, which only within the last 50 years has become the dominant one among American Jews, that they fail to see the actual realities of the Israeli Occupation that, for more than three decades, has violated both international law and the principals of human dignity.  Incredibly, they reverse the roles of oppressor and oppressed, and abandon all principals of morality, justice, and law.

They seem to think that the blood of Palestinian children, women, and men, is of no consequence when compared to that of the Jewish occupiers.  They seem to support the utter destruction of an indigenous population, including homes, resources, livelihood, land, health, and life.  Finally, they seem to think that it is not in the natural order of things for a people to resist such oppression, and that such resistance is neither a necessity nor a moral obligation.

With these two letters, I become more and more convinced that Zionism is the absolute negation of Jewish tradition and morality, formed, as were the Jewish people, within the experience of our Diaspora.  It has led not only to the destruction of another people; it has led to the destruction of our own moral center.