Yasser Arafat

* Ehud Olmert (Commentary, Oct. 4) is concerned that Yasser Arafat, “a man who has long wielded terrorism against Israel,� may live only 25 minutes from Jerusalem. What is not mentioned is that Israelis have engaged in terrorism for at least 60 years, first against the British before the creation of Israel and subsequently against Palestinians and other Arab neighbors.

Olmert’s opinion of Jerusalem being for Israel now and forever is the direct Likud party line, which totally rejects the original United Nations mandate that Jerusalem is to be a “neutral� city. It is mentioned that before the 1967 war, all Jews in Arab-controlled East Jerusalem were expelled. Olmert neglects to mention that the same is true for many Arabs in Israeli-controlled Palestine. Although no one can condone Arab violence and property seizure against non-Muslims prior to the current Israeli occupation of the West Bank, this behavior is understandable when placed in the historical context of Western powers determining the fate of Mideastern Arabs.

Olmert’s recollections of the “freedom and guaranteed rights for all� in Jerusalem over the past 26 years conveniently forget the Israeli displacements of both Christians and Muslims and the human rights violations against Palestinians. All the recent Jewish Jerusalem inhabitants established over the last 15 years are part of the Israeli plan to overwhelm Arabs by sheer numbers.

The intransigence of Olmert’s denial of a change over Jerusalem’s sovereignty predisposes him and the Likud party to live their self-prophecy of a failed peace in the Middle East. Those Israelis (and Palestinians) who live by the gun with their heads buried in the sand may never get to know peace.

DARYL KOUTNIK

Riverside