Tuesday, April 23, 1996Searching for peace
Editor:
The Jewish community of UCLA is extremely saddened by the tragic
events that have occurred over the past week in Lebanon. We, along
with Israel’s leaders, including Prime Minister Shimon Peres and
Consul General in Los Angeles Yoram Ben-Zeev, deeply regret and
mourn the deaths of yet more innocent victims in the decades-old
conflict between Israel and her Arab neighbors. We also wish to
convey our sincere condolences to the families of the victims.
We welcome the United States’ intense diplomatic initiative in
facilitating the resolution of the current crisis. The central
objective of U.S. efforts has been to obtain a commitment from
Lebanon and Syria to act to prevent future Hizballah terrorist
activity, particularly the launching of katyusha rockets into
northern Israel. It was precisely this terrorist activity,
specifically aimed at Israeli civilian population centers, that led
Israel to undertake its current military operation inside
Lebanon.
We are hopeful that the diplomatic efforts by the United States
and others will lead soon to a situation in which Syria and Lebanon
will join Israel in a serious and concerted effort to seek a
permanent solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Jewish Student Union Executive Board