This is in response to Sanaa Ansari's article, \Palestinians need American support too"" [10/21/03], In this column he erroneously comes to the conclusion that Palestinians should not be blamed and are not responsible for a recent attack which killed three Americans. Although evidence has not officially been released, Ansari needs to take a better look at the conflict's recent history. These are not the first three Americans who have been killed in this conflict; rather, dozens of Americans have been killed by Palestinian terrorism (many with dual Israeli-American citizenship). The militant factions of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups have used remote controlled devices before on Israeli tanks and army vehicles. Also, these factions have stated that they want to associate more closely with Hezbollah, the group which was responsible for the barrack bombing in Lebanon which killed scores of American soldiers. All of the above mentioned dynamics indicate that some Palestinian militant group was behind the most recent attack.
Ansari goes on to state in his article that the United Nations condemns much of what Israel does as war crimes. Yet how credible is the U.N. and how biased? Syria, which supports militant groups sworn to the destruction of Israel, serves on the Security Council and has a powerful voice on all resolutions.
The militant groups of Hamas and Islamic Jihad must be reined in first, the promotion and glorification of violence within Palestinian society must be stopped, and then progess may be made.
