Letter to Washington Post

Dear Editor, While deriding Ron Paul's "loose definition" of occupation (2/12/12) as applied to America's military presence in many countries, Washington Post author Glen Kessler says that "occupy" means "taking away a country's sovereignty". However in other articles, Mr. Kessler accuses Israel of "occupying" the West Bank. In fact, Israel took away no country's sovereignty; Israel won the territory from Jordan in a defensive war. And there certainly was never a Palestinian country in that area. Apparently Mr. Kessler uses one definition for Israel and another for us. The "occupation" accusation is repugnant and damning. It has been used as a rallying call for violence against Israel and Jews worldwide and helps to fan the flame of anti-Semitism that is rising at an alarming rate. Shouldn't the same definition apply to all? Michael Berenhaus