Arafat and Zhirinovsky
* We do take exception to the second to last paragraph in an article by Tyler Marshall (April 14). In a report from Strasbourg dealing with a speech by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, he mentions Russian ultranationalist Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky was also present at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.
He writes: “Despite what might appear to be shared anti-Jewish sentiments, the two (Arafat and Zhirinovsky) seemed to have little interest in each other.â€
This is very misleading. Yasser Arafat is not anti-Jewish. The group of people Arafat objects to are the Zionists who have taken Palestinian land by armed aggression since 1947.
Zhirinovsky, on the other hand, is a right-wing Russian reported to have made anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic remarks.
Arafat and Zhirinovsky should not be put in the same category.
PATRICIA TWAIR
Regional Coordinator
National Assn. of Arab Americans
Los Angeles
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