To the editor:

No, Mr. Rittgers, I am not anti-Semitic, and I do believe in Israel’s right to be a nation. Read my letter to the editor carefully (Feb. 18): I didn’t make any anti-Semitic statements. Don’t assume that I mean something when I did not!

How well-informed are you about the Middle East situation, the Palestinian problem and the geopolitic in this region, Mr. Rittgers?

You are standing behind easy propaganda when you call the Lebanese resistance “terrorists,” you mix “thousands of years of oppression, World War II, the evil neighbors of Israel, the Hitlers and guerrilla terrorists,” and you see an “anti-Semite” in every person who criticizes Israel’s politics?

Have you ever read reports from Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch about Israel’s actions against international laws in South Lebanon?

Do you believe these reports were written by “anti-Semite” investigators?

See the facts: There is no oil in South Lebanon, but there is water, a valuable element in the region. And it was a probable reason for Israel to invade South Lebanon in 1978, under the cover of establishing a “security zone.”

You declare: “It is important for Israel to have a buffer zone to defend itself from attacks.”

Your logic allows any country to invade its neighbor if it finds a pretext.

The United Nations resolution 425, voted in 1978, is clear: Israel must withdraw immediately from South Lebanon.

Mr. Rittgers, I understand your feelings for Israel and I respect them.

But when you deny the right to criticize Israel’s politics and you refuse to admit that the Israeli military presence in South Lebanon is nothing else but occupation, I wonder what the word “freedom” means to you?

Jean-Pierre Taoutel

Temporary instructor

French