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EDITORIAL
World public opinion has condemned all of these, and many other acts, through the United Nations and in other forums. Yet, the United States continues to supply Israel with the military means for defying the U.N. and vetoes every effort to bring peace to the Middle East by its adamant and immoral stand against the rights of the Palestinian people to national self-determination. There is a direct link between the no-talk policy towards the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and this latest attack on the life of Mayor Bassam al-Shaka of Nablus and Mayor Karim Khalef of Ramallah. In these matters, there is no recognizable difference between the policies of the Carter Administration and those of the Republican Administrations of Nixon and Ford. 
We welcome the initiative currently being undertaken by France and other European states designed to ease the tensions in the Middle East crisis. Formal recognition of the PLO as the responsible representative of the Palestinian people by a number of European states, plus their stated intent to sponsor a resolution in the United Nations Security Council recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to an independent state, are significant contribution toward resolving this vital issue affecting the peace of the world. 
For U.S. citizens, these European initiatives underscore one of the most important facts of political life in the modern world - namely that the United States is not giving constructing leadership to the international community on any major question confronting the human race today. Full awareness of this fact is important since the Pentagon's already bloated military budget is being increased again on the grounds that more hardware is needed to enforce the world leadership role of the U.S.! In truth, such a role could best be reclaimed by renouncing the dangerous and wasteful arms race, and by joining the world in recognizing the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.
As long as U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for the Israeli military occupation the West Bank, Israel is under no compulsion to respect the rights of the Palestinian people. History has placed the responsibility for this situation firmly on the doorstep of U.S. foreign policy.
The Editors