Letter To The Editor

In response to Dena-Kay Martin's article, "Anti-Semitism Prevalent on Campuses, ADL Says," (Monday, Oct. 21), I would like to correct a very disturbing, commonly held misconception: That is, people who do not agree with the actions and positions of Israel, and indeed support the Palestinians, are not anti-Semites.

Unfortunately, Israelis and many Zionistic Jews and Christians in the United States cannot make this distinction, and thus cause great detriment to the clarity of valid criticisms of Israeli actions and positions. A wonderful example of this occurred a few months ago. The Israeli government accused the Norwegian government of funding terrorism against Israel (essentially an accusation of anti-Semitism). The Israelis have a problem with the millions of kroner that Norway gives and finances to the humanitarian and governmental needs of the Palestinians.

I would like to remind the readers of this paper that Norway earned the distinction of forming committees to determine the recipients of the Nobel Peace prize for many many years. Given the history of the two countries I believe I am more apt to agree with the government that tries to help thousands of Palestinian refugees, and strangely enough, this government along with almost every other European nation criticizes Israel. Fortunately, right-wing Zionist Christians, nor Zionist Jews, nor plain stupidity blinds our allies in Europe. Like Norway, many good, intelligent people criticize Israel, and suffer the consequences of being deemed Anti-Semitic.

If I could get one point across through this letter it would be a plead for the readers of this paper to become scholars of the history, methods of formation and policies of Zionism (the foundation of a Jewish state) and the nation of Israel, both of which started somewhat close to the beginning of the 20th century. Anyone can log on to the United Nations Web site (www.un.org) and find an abundance of information on these topics. Given an objective viewing of the history and other information, there is no excuse for Americans not knowing why the Palestinians and other Islamic countries hate the United States and why statements such as those made by UB student Mr. Mikhailevich (Monday, Oct. 21) are so ludicrous.