Sir, - Dr Steve Harris may believe that Israel was involved in a defensive war (August 12th), but Manachem Begin knew otherwise: "In June 1967, we had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him." (New York Times, August 21st, 1982).
Dr Harris speaks of illegal annexation by Jordan, but fails to mention the numerous UN Resolutions that Israel has violated with impunity. He quotes Arafat, unaware perhaps that Arafat was merely echoing David Ben-Gurion: "The acceptance of partition does not commit us to renounce Transjordan. One does not demand from anybody to give up his vision. We shall accept a state in the boundaries fixed today - but the boundaries of Zionist aspirations are the concerns of the Jewish people and no external factor will be able to limit them." (The Birth of Israel, Simha Flapan). - Yours, etc.,
Khalid Haneef, Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1.