There have been a series of letters concerning the actions of the Michigan Peace Team in their protection of the houses of alleged suicide bombers, the most radical of which belonged to Stephen Bogdanski ("Perez puts himself in the violent middle" SN 4/6). I share the deep revulsion for the actions of terrorists against the citizens of Israel. However, these organizations are illegal, lack the recognition of the international community and are not the leading recipients of U.S. military aid.

The actions of terrorists are illegitimate and morally indefensible because they brutally target noncombatants in order to transmit a political message. When a sovereign nation engages in demonstrative, punitive violence collectively against civilians, its rule of law is diminished. To target civilians because of blood relation is atavistic and more becoming of tribalism than national sovereignty. By the destruction of housing, the Israeli government is targeting the elderly and the newborn, not the deceased suicide bomber. These reactions are retaliatory, not preemptive.

By this violence, the government perpetuates the entrenched psyche of humiliation, poverty and injustice intrinsic to the violence of the region.

The legitimacy of Israel's actions in this regard can be established only by the same moral relativism demonstrated by Bogdanski, which allows one community to establish its security by denying another the fundamental human rights and necessities that security is based upon.

Travis Pierce-Ryan
history senior