AN ACADEMIC’S SADLY MISPLACED SYMPATHIES

Simon Baron-Cohen uses the platform of the JC (November 13) to vilify Israel as being involved in “illegal” occupation.

Professor Baron-Cohen correctly points out that “some 400,000 Israeli settlers (sic) now live over the Green line”.

However, what is incorrect — and quite disgraceful — is BaronCohen’s apparent determination to delegitimise the State of Israel by creating an impression that a hefty percentage of Israel’s population is doing something illegal and that the state of Israel is aiding and abetting this.

In fact, it is the sovereign right of any state to determine its own positions on legal issues.

With respect to the EU — which would be better advised to focus on its own problems — the position of the sovereign state of Israel is that our presence in the historical Land of Israel is very legal — including the Jewish communities in the region of Judea and Samaria.

Baron-Cohen’s sympathies are easily apparent: he purports that “the creation of Israel” is what displaced 700,000 Arabs and therefore that the “restoration of Palestinian human rights is an urgent priority”.

What about the restoration of Jewish human rights” — such as the right to walk home without getting shot or knifed — which he is mentions only as an afterthought?

And he offers not a word about how the creation of Israel would not have displaced even a single Arab, had the fledging Jewish state not been invaded immediately by a coalition of Arab states.

Professor Baron-Cohen is of course entitled to his opinions, but damage control mandates that we should always be aware of their limitations and their impact on the Jewish community. Susie Dym, spokesperson Mattot Arim, Israel