Anti-Semitic or anti-Israel?

Sir,

I should like to respond to Androulla Hadjipavlou (letters, July 30) and point out that there is no such thing as anti-Semitism. Semites are peoples who speak Semitic languages; the group includes Arabs, Aramaeans, Jews, and many Ethiopians. One cannot possibly be ‘anti’ all such peoples.
The term ‘anti-Semitic’ was undoubtedly coined by the Zionists, or Israelis, to divert attention from themselves. ‘Anti-Semitic’ really means ‘Anti-Israel’.
Since their arrival in Palestine in 1947 the Zionists have been engaged in the wholesale slaughter of the local population in an effort to expropriate land in order to increase the size of their encampment.
Since the Israelis have refused to comply with the 1967 and 1973 Security Council resolutions calling on Israel to vacate illegally occupied Arab lands, the Arabs have no choice other than to resist the occupation using whatever means are at their disposal.
The recently ugly events in which the Israelis used sophisticated American bombs to murder 50 Lebanese children simply serve to demonstrate that the Israelis have lost their humanity and have become psychotic serial killers.
Dr. John Richards
Zurich, Switzerland

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