University of Virginia Library

Misunderstood

I am afraid Louise Snead (C.D.,
February 18) has misunderstood
the aims of the Palestinians and the
American Friends of Free Palestine
of U.Va. One workshop or
pamphlet is inadequate to
understand a revolution.

Above all, the Zionists have
been the ones who have "used" the
Jews, manipulating the tragedy of
one people to the detriment of
another. Fateh's goal transcends
nationalism. The Palestinians offer
to join with Jews within Israel in
establishing a society to serve as a
model for the rest of the Middle
East and the world. The Israeli
Socialist Organization (progressive
Jews and Arabs within Israel)
rejects Zionism and "Jewishness" as
nationalist alienations and seeks to
promote an internationalist
outlook.

What is the alternative to the
"refugees"' armed struggle¾: lack
of a "sense of human dignity."
Nonviolence is generally the luxury
of rich white people. To counsel
oppressed people to be nonviolent
is to support that oppression. Dan
Berrigan is in prison in America for
burning paper instead of people,
yet-in his recent message to the
heroic Weatherpeople - he argues
that whites cannot tell the Black
Panthers or the Vietnamese not to
defend themselves.

But white people must made a
choice since the West is responsible
for the real tragedies and violence.
Thus, the AFFP believes it is
necessary to endorse and
implement thy People's Peace
Treaty in solidarity with the
Vietnamese. Our outlook is
internationalist: we support the
struggles in Vietnam and Palestine
and throughout the rest of the
Third World against the common
enemy.