PUBLIC FORUM : PEACE PROCESS IS PICKING ISRAEL TO PIECES.

With all the dancers of this Mephisto Waltz known as the Middle East peace process - I call it pieces: a piece of Israel at a time - Egypt enters the dance floor.

Egypt's leaders, its press and its people have been spewing forth not only anti-Israel poison but the most virulent anti-Semitism since Kristalnacht.

Can we blame the Israelis for moving rather slowly on giving up more land?

The rationale, in Israeli eyes, goes something like this: We returned every inch of the Sinai to Egypt after it joined with at least five other Arab nations bent on destroying us - not only land but the oil we discovered there and the wells we developed, turning Egypt into an oil-exporting nation. And still they hate us. They boycott events that would include us.

Is this peace for land? I don't blame the Israelis for going so slowly.

- R.L. Waters

Van Nuys

As Bill Clinton's term in office thankfully begins to wind down, it is quite clear that being one of our most truthful presidents is most definitely not one of the legacies he leaves posterity.

His latest trip into fantasy is that Israel's lack of haste in giving land to Arafat is the cause of the Arab coalition against Saddam not being there.

What coalition? Not one Arab country besides Iraq objected to our increased forces in the area. Not even Iran objected.

If Clinton wants to see them breaking all speed records known to man in toeing our line, all he has to do is spread the word that the United States is pulling out. His hatred of Netanyahu seems to have no bounds.

His secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, isn't really all that bright either. They both seem to have forgotten the betrayal of Czechoslovakia, when Adolf Hitler demanded ``land for peace'' and Neville Chamberlain gave him Albright's parents' homeland.

If Clinton and Albright really feel that way about returning land taken in combat, let them set a good example by returning the Southwest to Mexico. We stole it from them.

Frankly, Bill Clinton gives me the willies - no pun intended.

- Paul Wasserman

Northridge

MTA spending

Where does the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which says it doesn't have the money to build the rail system it promised to build in the Valley, get the millions required to rescue the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles?

Where does the MTA get the authority to use transit and gas tax money to contribute to a $150,000-a-year management fee?

Where does the Community Redevelopment Agency, which has to borrow $12 million from the downtown sports arena owners to build streets to serve the arena, get the millions it is ready to pay to bail out the Grand Central Market?

The CRA is continuing the policies that have resulted in a bleak historical record. It poured $22 million down the drain for a theater downtown. It has spent $44 million so far for the Grand Central Market that appraisers say is only worth $18 million.

How many more ill-advised millions will they spend from money they say they don't have? How much more fuel will this add to secession movements in the San Fernando Valley, San Pedro, Venice and other Los Angeles City communities?

The best thing that could happen to Grand Central Market is to give it bankruptcy protection and advertise for bids based on its market value.

Let a new, competent entity take it over and do what needs to be done not only to keep the market afloat, but to make it profitable and enhance it as the historical and financial asset it can be for downtown Los Angeles.

- Ernani Bernardi 

Retired 7th District councilman

Van Nuys

Who's in charge?

Your Nov. 26 edition featured ``Group unveils new approach to secession.'' VOTE, now joined by other Valley secession leaders, has announced a new mission: It will now push for a public vote ``while remaining neutral on the issue itself.''

My faith in human nature is restored. People, as well as chameleons, now have the ability to change their color.

Incidentally, the Nov. 29 edition describes a rival secession faction (the San Fernando Valley Secession Board) that remains true to the original concept. Which group of leaders will be in control of our new city if the movement is successful?

- Lou Robins

Van Nuys

Hollywood and guns

Last month, after he put forth his ban on high-volume ammunition clips for the public, Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer amended his new ordinance to allow Hollywood directors and producers to continue using these recently banned clips.

He said, ``Obviously, the ordinance was never intended to have a negative impact on the film industry in Los Angeles. This ordinance was designed to promote public safety. Use of these large clips by the film industry does not negatively impact public safety.''

Perhaps this is so. As, contrary to the message he and others of similar political ambitions portray, statistics do not bear out that high-volume clips cause gun violence.

The film industry doesn't want the hero to run out of ammo, while mixing it up with the bad guys on the screen. But I guess it's OK for the law-abiding citizen, who owns a legally purchased weapon with such a now-banned clip, to run afoul of the law if he survives a confrontation with a villain. Such an ordinance will not affect the crook; he does not obey the law anyway.

As a lifetime/endowment member of the NRA, I have been around guns all my life. I was taught at a young age that all guns are loaded and shown how to handle and respect them.

Provide education on guns and gun safety - take a cue from MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and target those who violate the existing gun laws. Prosecute as we do drunk drivers, leaving the law-abiding gun owner to enjoy the right to own and bear arms as we allow the law-abiding driver to continue to drive.

- Ken Hoaglund

Burbank

Chasing paper

In reference to the Nov. 25 editorial in the Daily News that the City Attorney's Office doesn't do anything (``Paper chase; What does the City Attorney's Office do all day?''):

Let's quench the malicious rumors that anyone in the City Attorney's Office is chasing paper. These people pick up their paychecks on time.

Benjamin R. Laufer

Sherman Oaks