A lesson that repeats itself

Robert Jones is at it again. His vitriolic regurgitation of the Palestinians' propaganda line betrays the fact that he is either a rabid anti-Semite or a dupe for the racist intolerance that is the Palestinian credo. Israel is not the aggressor in this conflict but to read Mr. Jones' baseless allegations one would think so.

Israel has never acted in any capacity other than self defense. Israel did not instigate the several wars it has fought with the Arab nations surrounding it and has repeatedly demonstrated it's willingness to live in peace with its neighbors throughout its history. Israel's media and school curriculums, not to mention the sermons from its clergy, do not call for the destruction of the Palestinians nor of its Arab neighbors as do those of the Arab world.

Without exception Israel has proven to be ready to live with its neighbors as evidenced by the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, its willingness to enter into negotiations with Syria, Iraq, or the Palestinians as well as Israel's forbearance in not conquering Damascus, Cairo, or Amman on the two occasions its armies stood unopposed at their doorsteps.

Just as Josef Goebels, Hitler's minister of propaganda proved to the world 60 years ago that, "if a lie is repeated often, it comes to be regarded as truth." Mr. Jones' continual repetition of the Palestinian's propaganda where up is down and history is turned on its head demonstrates the lesson anew. In today's world of sound bite journalism and our own population's short attention span, propagandists such as Mr. Jones are doing their bit to lower the level of discussion through distortions and outright lies.

If his current rantings are any indicator, I'm certain that 60 years ago Mr. Jones would have been one of the chorus of those parroting Goebel's allegations that "Germany doesn't want war, Germany simply requires living room" or that "Germany has been attacked by Poland, we simply defended ourselves" or perhaps, "there was never such a thing as The Final Solution to the Jewish problem."

Certainly Mr. Jones' ill-informed opinions concerning current events point toward a desire to see the Nazi's plans carried through at last.

Bruce S. Klein

Ashland