Palestinians Can Do Better Than Violence

To the editors:

In the op-ed piece “For Human Rights,” Professors Spelke and Nakayama give little credit to the Palestinian people when they write that “much of the danger Israel now faces comes from the misery and hopelessness of three million people.”

These two seem to believe that the Palestinians are so barbaric that they can do nothing to allay their misery short of threatening the safety of Israeli civilians with random acts of violence. I think the Palestinian people are capable of better.

The Palestinians should follow the lead of most other groups fighting for a cause and use non-violence to gain real respect. Terrorism is never acceptable.

Shira R. A. Pinnas ’05

Sept. 23, 2002