Nobel prize not by accident

As a history professor from the United States, I am somewhat reluctant to provoke my Indonesian friends regarding recent events. Many were dismayed about this year's Nobel Peace Prize winners. I would have thought they would be pleased when the Norwegian committee finally awarded a prize or two to Indonesians.

On Oct. 18, 1996, your paper printed a letter from Werdiningtyas theorizing about why the committee chose this year's winners. I laughed out loud when she suggested it was some kind of mistake. Indonesians may not like it, and my heart goes out to them, but the award is never handed out by accident. Their choice illustrates that much - if not most -- of the rest of the world does not share Indonesia's view of the situation in East Timor.

Finally, Werdiningtyas said she had begun to lose faith in the Nobel Committee when it awarded a Nobel prize to U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Her faith may now be restored, because Carter did not get a Nobel Peace Prize. In 1978, Menachim Begin (not Yitzak Rabin) of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt won the prize for taking bold steps toward making peace in the Middle East. Sadat's decision to make peace cost him his life when he was murdered by religious fanatics three years later. I found Werdiningtyas' omission of Sadat quite remarkable.

DAVID M. ESPOSITO

Semarang, Central Java