Immigration Divides the Nation

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TIME'S stort on Ehud Olmert's victory in the Israeli elections [April 10] said it showed that Israeli voters "are apparently ready to sacrifice the ancient dream of a Greater Israel--stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River--for peace with a Palestinian state." But most Israelis already favored such a sacrifice. The concept of a Greater Israel has been embraced by only a minority. While you reported Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' regret that Olmert did not win more seats, most Israelis regret Abbas' failure to stop Hamas from winning the latest Palestinian elections. That Israel's center-left captured such a large number of seats and that the right-wing Likud Party has disintegrated--even on the heels of the Hamas victory--should be viewed as a hopeful development. What remains to be seen is whether a Palestinian leadership emerges that is capable of taking the next step forward to a lasting peace.

JEFFREY ELLIS Los Angeles

Gorby Talks

Re your interview with Mikhail Gorbachev [April 10]: Gorbachev was one of the most influential leaders for peace in the 20th century. Americans should pay attention to what he said in TIME's interview: "America is intoxicated by its position as the world's only superpower. It wants to impose its will. But America needs to get over that. It has responsibilities as well as power." We Americans need to change our posture.

BOB SCHIECK

Antioch, Ill.

I was amazed to read that Gorbachev's government pension is only 40,000 rubles a month, about $1,400. I wish U.S. Presidents and politicians received similarly meager pensions.

REX H. WYERS Pace, Fla.

Sex in the Syllabus

While I was pleased that you reported on pornography studies [April 3], comments attributed to me need clarification. I do use sexually explicit materials in my human-sexuality course, although X-rated movies are not the only means to teach pornography. In response to your reporter's question about students who might be exploited in a sexuality class, I explained that students should not be exploited in any way, whether in a sexuality course or a statistics course. Your story consequently stated that I believe porn "is best taught with the same dispassion with which one would teach a course on statistics." I am very passionate about my subject, which obviously cannot be taught the same way as statistics. Last, I teach at Indiana University, not the University of Indiana.

CATHERINE M. SHERWOOD-PUZZELLO CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR INDIANA UNIVERSITY Bloomington, Ind.

Eyes on 2008

Columnist Joe Klein noted Senator Bill Frist's missteps as he has courted the G.O.P. presidential nomination [April 10]. I too am repulsed by politicians who put personal job security before defending the democratic principles that have made our country a beacon of freedom. Two people could lead the country away from the poverty and suffering resulting from Republican corruption and mismanagement: Al Gore and Senator Russ Feingold. True leadership is necessary to address global warming, nuclear proliferation and national security.

BRIAN CAMPION Burlingame, Calif.