In response to Anita Szemplinska’s letter (“America ignorant of Middle East issues,” April 8) I would like to get the truth out. Szemplinska seems to think all Americans are uneducated when it comes to the Middle East, but she is the one who is misinformed.

Szemplinska said things that are patently untrue, such as, “… America’s total identification with Israel in its unjustified wars of aggression.” Szemplinska is accusing a country with a population of fewer than 7 million people of starting a war against 30 million people.

Israel was a nation started by 600,000 Holocaust survivors who had nothing. How can Szemplinska call Israel unjust, when the people who started that country were going to be ruthlessly slaughtered? Anyone who can say Israel is unjust in trying to protect the citizens of its country must think every nation is unjust.

It is true that Islam does not equate to terrorism. Muslims are peaceful people, as are the Jews and Israelis. The problem is terrorists are claiming to be Muslim, when they are anything but Muslims. Szemplinska should ask herself, if children were being shot by snipers on the way to school in this country, would she stand by and do nothing? If her friends were blown up because they ate at a cafe, would she do nothing?

Most Americans do seem to be misinformed when it comes to the politics of the Middle East, but Szemplinska is obviously oblivious to the fact that there are also Arab Israelis and Muslim Israelis. All Israelis want peace. America should be helping its strongest ally in fighting for peace and understanding. The war in the Middle East is not a religious war; it is a battle for peace between nations and people who were at one time closely related.

Alexandria Davenport

Freshman

Religious Studies