Setting the record straight on Israel

The letter you ran on Sept. 22 written by Ben Gaster must be answered. It is obvious that he does not know his history.

He writes about "Israeli occupation."

Areas that Israel "occupied" were not Palestinian but parts of Egypt, Jordan and Syria and this only happened because those nations attacked Israel. As a matter of fact, They and others attacked at the moment of Israel's birth as a nation. Their vow was to drive the Israelis (Jews) into the sea.

Had they been able to do so what would be the chances of them making concessions later on? President Nasser of Egypt forced the U.N. forces standing between Israel and Egypt to leave in preparation for an attack on Israel. In six days, he found he had made a terrible mistake but he openly declared that Israel would be driven into the sea. All wars that Israel has waged is for defense only. When the Palestinians were given the Gaza Strip it had a working infrastructure and huge greenhouses to grow food. The Palestinians proceeded to demolish them. Then with their bases in Gaza began raining rockets onto Israeli towns.

Thousands were launched over years before Israel finally attacked to put and end to them. You can't bargain with people who want you dead. I would remind Mr. Gaster of one thing more. When the attack on the World Trade Center happen on Sept. 11, 2001, it was Palestinians who were celebrating on the streets, not Israelis.

George Blinick

Prospect Heights