As one of the organizers of the panel discussion, "Perspectives on the War in the Persian Gulf," I feel obliged to respond to the letter (Feb. 7) from co-presidents of Yachad, Penn State Friends of Israel, Amy Stainman and Gabriella Warat.

Abbas Aminmansour, Wayne Husted and I, acting on behalf of the Middle East Studies Committee, organized the panel to inform the community about the gulf war. We were determined not to follow the model of the "teach in." We tried to make sure diverse viewpoints would be represented by the speakers. We were delighted to have Sam Zamrik join us, and I made an effort to include a pro-Israel speaker.

I called five faculty members who I know to be articulate and well-informed backers of Israel, but all had good reasons to decline our invitation. Although most of us had occassion to mention Israel and its politics, none of us deliberately connected Israel and the Palestinians with the causes or conduct of the war. It is regrettable that your reporters quoted the Yachad spokesman at length, but could not report what we told them.

All of the panelists were members of the Penn State community who volunteered their time and expertise to speak. Yachad seems to have felt that only an outsider, who would have to be paid for his contribution, could suitably represent Israel's concerns. After my futile attempt to find a faculty speaker, I approached Yachad and allowed myself to be convinced, against my better judgement, that our panel would be improved by inviting Glenn Mones.

I did not know at the time that Yachad wanted to be listed as a co-sponsor, and unfortunately we had to print our advertising promptly. The day after we agreed to invite Glenn Mones, Ms. Warat told me she and Ms. Stainman had decided that Yachad did not want him to appear with us. The next day I learned the Yachad board had decided that either they must have two representatives or none at all. It was too late to change the advertisements we had printed and submitted to the Collegian, owing to your necessary deadlines.

When the Middle East Studies Committee meets as a whole, it may vote, if it wishes, on whether to apologize "to the campus" for misleading them concerning the nature and format of the panel discussion we sponsored. I ask your readers to help decide whether the co-presidents of Yachad owe the Committee an apology for their conduct.