Letters: Bringing peace to the Middle East
Re “Is Mideast peace possible?,” Editorial, Jan. 7
The Times’ discussion of the Israeli Arabs vis a vis the Mideast peace process misjudges the status of that group, which is 20% of the population.
The Arab citizens have the right to vote and to be elected to office. They also have the protection of a respected legal system. They have more civil rights in Israel than they would have living in many Muslim countries.
In fact, some polls have shown that most Arab citizens of Israel would not choose to leave to live in a future Palestinian state.
Israel’s prime minister wants the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as a way for them to show their intentions. When the Palestinians say Israel can call itself whatever it wants, it is insulting and delegitimizing of Israel.
The Palestinian leaders go so far as to forgo creating their own state because they won’t recognize Israel for what it already is.
Norman G. Licht
San Carlos, Calif.
The peace process has been tragically unsuccessful, and war in the region has produced terrible consequences. No one in the Middle East is safer, and many countries are much less stable now than before.
Multiple factors, including religious extremism and terrorism motivated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are likely to make this dangerous situation go from bad to worse.
Considering all that, I have to agree with the gist of your editorial, and I very much hope that more people do what they can to help make a just and lasting peace for both Israel and the Palestinians a reality.
Anne Selden Annab
Mechanicsburg, Penn.
Perhaps the best way to achieve a two-state peace agreement would be to have the Palestinians and Israelis separately vote to accept or reject that solution.
If both sides accept the agreement, the next problem to be solved would be for both governments and populations to implement the agreement. At that point, let us hope that peace is the victor.
Marc Jacobson
Los Angeles
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