The PLO Is Not Benign

To the Editors of The Crimson:

"Tarr's Message Was Offensive," a letter printed in the Crimson on February 16, presented a benign view of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). According to the writers, "the PLO works to secure and guarantee fundamental human rights for Palestinians, including the Palestinian right to self-determination...It does not deny these same rights to the Israeli people."

In fact, the PLO does seek to deny the Israeli people the right to self-determination, even to the point of destroying the state of Israel. According to the PLO's charter, the Palestine National Covenant, "the partioning of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of Israel are fundamentally null and void." Furthermore, Yassar Arafat, chair of the PLO, has often expressed this viewpoint.

"The goal of our struggle is the end of Israel, and there can be no compromise," Arafat said in 1970. "Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations" (1980). "The victory march will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and all of Palestine--from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and from Rosh Hanikra to Eilat" (1980). "The war of attrition against the Zionist enemy will never cease" (1983). "O heroic sons of Gaza Strip, O proud sons of the [West] Bank, O heroic sons of the Galilee, O steadfast sons of the Negev:...the fires of revolution against these Zionist invaders will not fade out...until our land--all our land--has been liberated from these usurping invaders" (1987).

No matter how moderate the PLO may try to appear, its actions indicate its true nature. Arafat's alliance with Saddam Hussein is just the most recent step in the PLO's war against Israel. Joshua S. Kreitzer '93