To the Editor:
Jonathan Kolatch is correct in pointing out that two legal systems coexist at present on the West Bank, and he is right that these cause confusion ("A Surfeit of West Bank Law," Op-Ed Sept. 24).
But Mr. Kolatch is wrong in suggesting that this is a new or anomalous development.
Quite the contrary, it is a reversion to a centuries-old pattern in the Middle East. Law there has long been applied according to a person's religious affiliation rather than the territory where he lives. The Jewish and Moslem religions contain law codes that pertain to their adherents regardless of where they live, and to no one else. A Jew living in Japan is as subject to the kosher strictures as the one in Israel. Conversely, a Moslem ruler has no right to impose the bans on alcohol and pork on his Christian subjects.
The existence of personal law has long complicated judicial procedures in the Middle East. As in the West Bank today, there has long been one regulation for Jew stealing from Jew, another for Moslem stealing from Moslem, a third for Jew stealing from Moslem and a fourth for Moslem stealing from Jew.
In modern times, Western countries won the right to apply their own laws to their nationals residing in the Middle East; this led to the Mixed Courts of Egypt, where more than a dozen laws were applied by judges from around the world.
Mr. Kolatch calls for the elimination of two legal systems on the West Bank. Perhaps he will be more tolerant of this situation - or more resigned to it - once he understands its deep roots.
Daniel Pipes
Newport, R.I.,
Sept. 26, 1984
The writer is an associate professor of strategy at the Naval War College.
