In his uninformed Nov. 7 letter, Jacob Kosoff reveals his inaccurate perception of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He fails to support his theories with sources or facts. Could Mr. Kosoff explain when the "cycle of violence" theory was discredited? What else but the fact that violence begets violence could explain the resurgent cycle of violence that has claimed hundreds of innocent civilian Israeli and Palestinian lives during the past two years? Who are these "leading experts on the mentality of the psyche of Arab terrorists"?

His statement is a reflection of the racist viewpoint that violence and ethnicity are inextricably linked. Though it's true that the Palestinian suicide bombers who kill Israeli civilians are engaged in abhorrent acts of terrorism, I would hardly characterize the actions of the IDF as heroic acts of rescue. How heroic was it when, on July 23, on the pretext of hunting down an individual suspected to be a terrorist, the IDF dropped a one-ton bomb on a residential building in the Gaza Strip at night, thereby killing 14 civilians, nine of whom were children? The IDF's act was condemned internationally -- even the White House criticized Israel for being "heavy-handed." Mr. Kosoff neglects to mention that these "heroes," the IDF, have been the agents for Israel's brutal occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip for the past 35 years, robbing Palestinians of their dignity and most basic human rights, including the right to self-determination and statehood.