The Palestinians

To the Editors:

We Americans have lived too long accepting Golda Meir's myth that there is no Palestinian people. The Palestinians [April 14] have not disintegrated. Nothing less than true self-determination in an independent Palestine can restore justice and bring peace to the Middle East.

Faye Hansink Pleasantville, N. Y.

Your story on the Palestinians was blatantly anti-Israel. TIME, while carefully documenting the struggle of the Palestinians, has neglected to mention other P.L.O. achievements: the Munich massacre, the massacre at Ma'alot, the attack on Lod airport and a host of other outrages against Israel and its people.

Sharon Rutman Far Rockaway, N. Y.

When the Jewish people were allowed into Palestine after World Wars I and II, they were guests who overstayed their welcome and eventually took over (with help from England and the U.S.). Since they were not following God's teachings in living peacefully in a holy territory, but felt it was their right to claim what wasn't theirs, then they have no right to try to push their Bible-quoting demands on anyone, least of all the Palestinians.

Gertrudis Abdel Khaliq Houston

Begin's policy over Arab land in the West Bank can best be described as smash and grab. Was Camp David some kind of insincere diplomatic maneuver on the part of the Israelis with which they had no intention of complying? If so, Egypt has paid the price of isolation in the Arab world for nothing.

Alexander Keen Lenzerheide, Switzerland

You did not even begin to explain the Jewish position or why Israel is so dear to those people. The Jews were exiled from Israel by the Romans, and it took centuries of wandering, persecution and a Nazi Holocaust before the world even sympathized with them. Compared with the Jews, the Palestinians don't even know the meaning of persecution yet. Let them experience the centuries of exile that the Jews did. Then we'll discuss whether they should have a homeland or not.

Julie B. Rana College Park, Md.

None among these sensitive, intelligent, well-educated people you featured voiced the slightest indication of accepting Israel in any manner whatsoever. The talk was not about coexistence, borders or any solution to the problem, but about their hatred of Israel and their eventual return "home." What is clear is that nothing has changed in their original goal of driving Israel into the sea. For Israel to accept a Palestinian state is to opt for perpetual warfare.

Kurt Weiser Alexandria, Va.

Palestinians are not out to get the Jews of the world. Nor are they intent upon throwing them into the sea. Our message is clear and simple, "Palestinians have human rights too." What Hitler did to the Jews was morally wrong, but what the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians is also morally wrong.

Noha Ismail Eden Prairie, Minn.

The key to the Middle East problem may be a resolution of Palestinian grievances, but the lock on this problem is recognition of Israel as a sovereign state. If the lock and key come together, they may discover the mutual benefits that can arise from choosing to be complements rather than antagonists.

Roger David Lewis Warrensburg, Mo.

Reagan's Facts

Your attack on Ronald Reagan's use of statistics [April 14] is a red herring. All that matters is Reagan's goals: less government and a stronger America. As the results show, voters care not for statistical analysis. Neither should TIME.

Clark J. Freshman Plantation, Fla.

Apparently, we have become so obsessed with finding a leader that his path is not important. What else can you conclude when a man makes numerous errors in public, denies all but the most painfully obvious ones and still draws frenzied crowds?

Thomas Stevens Winchester, Mass.

The apparent contradictions arise only if you accept Government spokesmen as being 100% factual. Surely you don't buy the HEW line that it only takes the Federal Government 12-c- to deliver $1 to the needy.

Gary L. Buckwalter Indiana, Pa.

New Way of Voting?

Your Essay on the Hobson's choice of presidential candidates [April 14] omits a viable alternative: optional preferential voting that gives electors a second or third choice. Fearful, for example, that a vote for a liberal third-party candidate would be wasted or would detract from Carter's tally and ensure a Reagan victory, a liberal elector is restricted to the choice between Carter and Reagan. A similar problem exists for conservatives.

With optional preferential voting, an elector who wants to can express a protest or an opinion through a third-party vote without this fear. If his candidate fails, the second choices expressed on the now excluded candidates' ballots are directed to the survivors.

As well as widening America's political horizons beyond the two-horse race, millions of the alienated majority or near majority who do not vote at all might again participate.

John Trainer, M.P. South Plympton, Australia

Uproar over Incest

To hell with pity and on to outrage for any book, movie, article or academic statement that attempts to justify incest [April 14]. To exploit a child for the gratification of an immature and sexually maladjusted adult is to deny love, warmth, nurturing and protection.

Joanne Forbes Lancaster, Mass.

It must be symptomatic of a degenerate society that when we can't solve a problem, we begin advocating it. I'm sure the researchers of Sodom and Gomorrah would have lobbied against the ban on incest too.

Gregory A. Toftdahl Junction City, Ore.

We may need to become warmer and more loving as families, but surely there are a number of options along the spectrum of affectionate expression before you get to incest.

Lynda Harpst Erie, Pa.

Lifting the incest taboo is consistent with the new emphasis on child sex-symbol movie stars and child porn filling "adult" bookstores. I believe the trend is related to the concept of sex as an allegory for power.

As women gain self-respect, they are less willing to play the dominated role. Men (and women) seeking to dominate in sex don't have to look far to find a compliant, docile partner. Who could be less threatening than a child; who could be more handy than their child?

Sunnie Blomquist San Francisco

I was amazed and appalled by TIME'S biased, closed-minded presentation of research on the effects of incest. TIME reacted with the very hysteria researchers are attempting to understand in their effort to aid victims of incest. It would seem reasonable that the guilt engendered by such hysterical reactions may cause far greater damage to the victim than the actual act of incest.

More research is needed if we are to understand both the cause and cures of such behavior.

Pauline Mailhiot Gekas St. Charles, III.

Definition of incest: a game the whole family can play.

Bob Barraclough Camp Springs, Md.

The Christian Right

TIME'S story "Born Again at the Ballot Box" [April 14] about the political activities of the supposedly "Christian" right leaves me with several reactions.

Jesus' call for his followers to be sensitive to the plight of the poor and oppressed is absent in the doctrines of the supposedly "Christian" political right. In its support of a balanced budget and a strong national defense, it is willing to starve social programs (and people) to feed an already bloated military machine.

The current attempt to mix religion and politics is not new. Two thousand years ago, those who described themselves as "godly" decreed what was proper among believers and what was to be required of all people. Then and now, "godly" people are the crucifiers of Jesus Christ.

(The Rev.) Glen A. Sea Columbus, Ga.

As a clergyman I was dismayed to read "Born Again at the Ballot Box." This kind of politicizing of the Word is dangerous and fundamentally unChristian. The Gospel calls us to inner transformation, not external coercion. This yearning for simplistic philosophies of life is also an affliction of the left.

(The Rev.) Robin Meyers Summit, N.J.

Crediting Eddington

Congratulations for your thoughtful article "Modernizing the Case for God" [April 7]. I appreciate the breadth of TIME'S coverage as represented by articles like this one. I should be grateful if you would correct the attribution of the quotation concerning the analogy between scientific data and telephone numbers. Though I included this statement in an essay that I wrote some years ago, I cannot claim credit for its authorship. It was originally made by English Astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington.

Frank H.T. Rhodes, President Cornell University Ithaca, N. Y.

Missile Missives

Even though the MX missile is coming under heavy criticism from Governors and other groups in the Western states [April 7], it should be deployed. Since Viet Nam, the U.S. has neglected its obligation to its military institutions. The MX would not only end the vulnerability of our present ICBM force, but would also make the leaders in the Kremlin hesitate before undertaking any more aggressive moves somewhere in the world.

John Schleibinger Gurnee, III.

The MX missile system being planned for Utah and Nevada is nuclear madness in its galloping stages.

Theodore R. Treadwell Jr. Sudbury, Mass.

Chip's Progress

The message I received from your American Scene article about a radical-turned-businessman, Chip Marshall [April 14], was that revolutionaries, liberals and leftists cannot and never will succeed because their well-intended, somewhat idealistic views and dreams will eventually be stifled and squashed by the power and righteousness of the capitalistic system, the "American Way." Let us not discredit these dreamers. They are activists who see a better way and are willing to work toward it. Without them, we surely could not call ourselves a democratic society.

Patricia J. Sardella Geneva, N. Y.

It took Marshall several years to learn what 95% of his fellow students comprehended in '69. His attempted defense that "we all flirted around with Marxism" is absurd. He means himself and a handful of his mindless companions.

Howard H. Peckham Hendersonville, N.C.

Your article on me in the American Scene accurately portrayed my change in political attitude from the rebellious '60s to the placid '80s in all respects but one. I still believe the U.S. involvement in Viet Nam was a mistake. It is sad that the shouts of the '60s were mere whispers when it came to the Boat People in the '80s, but if I had to do it over again I would still protest what we did--albeit in a style more befitting a three-piece suit.

Charles ("Chip") Marshall Seattle

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