Hopes and fears in Israel - Letter to the Editor

(originally in French)

To: Le Monde

Dear Letter Editor                                            January 16, 2007

Sub: Hopes and fears in Israel ("activists" or "terrorists")

I fully agree with your analysis that after Arafat's death there is a long-awaited opportunity to seek peace between the Arabs and Israel. But peace can not come until terror stops and your writer solves this problem too simply; by not calling the gunmen who bombard Israeli civilians in Sderot city what they are; "terrorists". You call them "militants" and even "Hamas activists" and that is like white-washing murderers.

A recent UN panel appointed  by General Secretary Kofi Annan gave a clear definition to terror: "Terrorism is an action that is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or noncombatants when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population or to compel a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act"  - and it goes on to say: "there is nothing in the fact of occupation that justifies the targeting and killing of civilians". See the original report at: http://www.un.org/secureworld/report3.pdf  , pp. 51-52, paras. 157-164.)

According to this definition there is no doubt that the Palestinian attackers of civilian targets in Sderot are terrorists. It is time that Le Monde contribute to advancement towards peace between Palestinians and Israel by denying legitimacy to Palestinian terrorists.

Respectfully yours,

Ann-Marie Hellmann

Strasbourg

 (You should give your name and city; and separately your address and your daytime contact data, like cellular phone number)