In a message dated 1/6/03 12:31:36 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:

> What would keep a person with any sort of disability from using a
>standard issue gas mask?

Joy,

    The article Meir posted here mentioned autistic and mentally disabled,
specifically. I know just enough about autistic behavior to be dangerous! LOL
But the one common characteristic is their abhorrence of anything new and
different.
Combine that with being confined by a mask, and you would have a serious
problem,

    BTW, I toured Israel in '88 and found it to be one of the most
fascinating places I have ever been. You are correct when you speak of being
a tourist vs. a resident. My tour guide told me one of the fastest ways to
lose a license as a guide was to have an American tourist harmed on a tour.
You are correct also about the inaccessibility of certain sites, such as
Masada(sp?). It would be ludicrous to me to put ramps and curb cuts in Old
Jerusalem.

    I also concur with you concerning the Palestinians. Having lived in the
Deep
South most of my life, I likened the problem to prejudicial behavior toward
Blacks, except Blacks generally do not strap explosives on themselves and
detonate them.
The prejudice against Palestinians was more open and blatant than prejudice
in the South. But, like the South, prejudice goes both ways, generally. When
I asked my tour guide if he foresaw peace with the Palestinians, his reply
was, "We've been fighting for 7,000 years, what do you think, Bobby?" It is
sad.

Bobby