Mr. Pogre (April 1 letter, “Ignoring bloodshed not a massacre”), we both live on a campus where most people know very little about the Middle East conflicts.

We have no right to misinform because of our feelings. We should only tell the truth, not twist information.

Whether you like it or not, Sharon has a responsibility in the massacre of Sabra and Chatilla. When a well-respected, non-governmental organization such as Human Rights Watch asks for a criminal investigation for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” into Sharon’s role, I believe it has enough evidence for the case.

When you say “this was just a continuation of the blood-soaked civil war in which Lebanon was embroiled for seven years before Israel was ever on the scene,” you show how little-informed you are about the war in Lebanon.

What about the Israeli invasion and occupation of south Lebanon in 1978?

What about the connections between Israel and the Phalangists from the start of the war in Lebanon in 1975?

I checked the www.bbc.com site that you mentioned, and I searched for the words Sabra/Chatilla. The article in which the number 800 (and not 2,000) is suggested is just a link to a personal Web site. It does not represent the BBC.

My advice is to check your information from serious NGO Web sites (Amnesty, Human Watch Rights) before writing. You also need to take into consideration the credibility of a source when you refer to it.

I am sorry to tell you that your information about the 200 Palestinian gunmen hiding amongst the civilians is nothing other than propaganda to excuse the massacres.

Did you find your source in another private article on the Web? I was in Beirut at that time, and I don’t buy the rumors. Just to be logical, why would they have stayed when all the others had left?

Please read more about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 before filling your letter with incorrect details. To say, for example, that in 1982 Elie Hobeika had ties with Syria and had maybe orchestrated the massacres as a political provocation against Israel is a huge misunderstanding of the war.

Also, please use the word “terrorists” wisely, in accordance to the time and place. I remind you that Israel was the invader in Lebanon in 1982

Also, if you still don’t believe that civilians were intentionally targeted during the siege of Beirut (I spent days and nights in the shelter in the summer of 1982), I ask you to see in detail what happened on this random day of August 1, 1982: Israel shelled Beirut nonstop for 14 hours.

International reporters mentioned that more than 100,000 bombs were fired. I am not making up this number. Hospitals (Makassid and Barbir) were directly hit. It was the deadliest day of the siege.

Are you serious when you say Sharon did not intentionally target civilians?

Explain to me how Israel can launch more than 100,000 bombs over a city the size of Beirut and not target civilians — unless you want to refer to the thousands of civilians who died as “collateral damage.”

I have books that cover the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, written by internationally well-known reporters who were in Beirut in 1982.

You are welcome to check them in my office if you need to “see verifiable news sources that prove my allegations to be true.”

Finally, I will completely agree with you to indict Kofi Annan for war crimes in Rwanda when an official and impartial request is made by organizations such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch.

Jean-Pierre Taoutel

Lecturer in French

Instructor in Arabic

Foreign Languages and Literatures