To the Editor:
In Laura Taylor’s March 6 article “A Special Relationship,” Ms. Taylor claims that she was attacked because she stood up for “the rights of the Palestinians.” However, if this column is any example, Ms. Taylor seems to be more anti-Israel than pro-Palestinian.
Ms. Taylor questions America’s relationship with Israel saying that the relationship is based on plans for U.S. dominance of the Middle East, which is inaccurate. The current relationship fully developed during the Cold War. When the U.S.S.R. began to back Arab states, the U.S. felt it needed a foothold in the region and chose Israel. It is widely acknowledged that the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. waged a proxy war in the Middle East.
Ms. Taylor also argues that Israel’s role in the region is to militarily support U.S. dominance, writing, “Ha’aretz correctly describes Israel as ‘a watchdog … a ‘little loyal Jewish Ulster’ in a sea of Arab hostility.” Sir Ronald Storrs, the governor of Jerusalem under the British Mandate, wrote this in Orientations, published in 1937. Storrs said that a Jewish homeland in Palestine “will form for England a little loyal Jewish Ulster in a sea of potentially hostile Arabism.” Knowing the original author changes the meaning of the quote entirely.
Amanda Rudman ’09