Palestinian Terror’s Boomerang Effect

The reason why The Times believes that the brutal murder of Ikhlas Khouli, the Palestinian mother of seven, by her own people represents a “New Phase in Mideast Bloodshed” (Aug. 27) is unclear. After all, the culprits were the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which proudly takes credit for the murder of so many Israeli innocents and continues to do so without fear of reprisal.

To a people who embrace terrorism and murder, publicly celebrate the death of civilians, honor mass murders, teach and encourage even their youngest children to kill and have created a culture rooted in death, why should the murder of Khouli represent something new when it really is just business as usual?

Many Palestinians have already been murdered by their own people on a claim, untested by judicial authority, that they “collaborated” with Israelis or sold land to a Jew. Ironically, right beneath the conclusion of this article you published one about the arrest of seven Israeli Arabs for their alleged involvement in the deadly bombing of a bus. The difference? Unlike Khouli, those Israeli Arabs will get a fair trial and the opportunity to prove their innocence.

Howard S. Secof

Los Angeles

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It defies the imagination of any civilized individual that a Palestinian terrorist organization would murder the widowed mother of seven children allegedly because she collaborated with Israel. Is this Palestinian justice? And to add insult to injury, the Palestinian governor of the territory where the woman was murdered blames this outrageous act on Israel. How can peace be achieved with a people who behave in this fashion?

Joseph M. Ellis

Woodland Hills