Mr. Korn's response - Letters

National Catholic Reporter, May 10, 2002 by William H. Slavick

* Eugene Korn's response (NCR, Apr. 26) to Miriam Ward's outline of the unjust "facts on the ground," which successive Israeli governments have created in the West Bank and Gaza, boggles the mind. Korn leaps, without benefit of logic, from Nostra Aetate's affirmation of God's covenant with the Jewish people to a claimed church affirmation of Israel's right to forcibly displace millions of Palestinians from their homes and property without compensation, to multiply settlements and roads that leave them isolated Bantustans, and to subject Palestinians to endless checkpoints, searches, delays, permit requirements and abusive and degrading treatment that have destroyed hope and created suicide bombers.

Catholic teaching does not support Israel's claim to Judea and Samaria, and the Vatican has long balked at recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital because its borders remain undefined. Korn only confirms Israel's imperial bent.

WILLIAM H. SLAVICK Portland, Maine