The staff's call for Peres and Rabin to decline their Nobel Peace Prize is based on the kind of blind self-righteouness that has thwarted the peace process in the past.

Certainly Arafat was a terrorist and the acts he has encouraged are horrifying: few deny that. But the peace prize was awarded to him for his current role as negotiator, not for past transgressions. And if past transgressions are an issue, it should be remembered that the Israeli army has committed crimes against Palestinians during the long course of the conflict as well.

What the Israeli government realizes but the staff chooses to ignore is that Arafat is a necessary part of a peace process; it has been his willingness to sit down with Peres and Rabin that has allowed discussions to begin. The Nobel Committee offered the prize, as it has done many times in the past, not for past records, not for completion of peace (indeed, when is peace ever completed?) but in recognition of genuine efforts towards peace.

Rather than decline the prize, thus hindering the path towards peace, Peres and Rabin should welcome it as a sign that peace in the Middle East is of importance to the entire world. --Natasha H. Leland '95