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Settlements are a red herring

How can anyone still believe that Israel’s “settlements” are an “obstacle to peace”?

How much reality has to hit before everyone realizes that Israel’s existence is the problem for her enemies, not her behavior or her size? Israel has done nothing but make concessions for over 100 years, always willing to live peacefully with her Arab neighbors, always making painful concessions, but never “conceding” the Palestinians’ unwavering demand that Israel commit national suicide. That is the problem.

When Arabs, namely Sadat, have been willing to make peace, Israel has given up more than half her territory, and uprooted thousands of settlers. Israel has also uprooted thousands of settlers in Gaza when there was no partner for peace, and the result was a terrorist mini-state, dedicated to genocide.

Anyone who suggests that stopping Israeli settlements will somehow lead to peace should be dismissed as delusional.

Sheldon Whitten-Vile   |   Oakland

 

Be wary of false promises

Your editorial and Douglas Bloomfield’s op-ed (Aug. 27) show a lack of a complete understanding of what is the Palestinians’ goal. Their prime goal is the demise of the Jewish State of Israel. They have stated vociferously that they will never recognize Israel as the Jewish state. There can be no real compromises as long as they insist on that goal. They won’t drop this objective until they are convinced that it is utterly impossible for it to happen. Any concession Israel makes only reinforces the Palestinians’ hope that Israel can still be destroyed.

Experience shows that any concession that the Palestinians make on paper won’t take place in actuality. Witness Arafat’s letter to Rabin in 1993 where he wrote “the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence” and “the PLO affirms that those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel’s right to exist are now inoperative and no longer valid.” Not one word of this has actually happened. Israel should be very wary of these talks and persons and organizations that are pressuring her to have these talks.

Arthur Cohn   |   Portola Valley

 

IDF must stay moral

The recent disclosure that Israeli soldiers posted pictures on Facebook that depict detained Palestinians in humiliating positions made me shudder. Shades of Abu Ghraib.

Israeli military authorities need to make this illegal immediately, and afterward must charge and punish every individual who does such despicable things. Any effort by the Jewish state to hold the moral high ground is utterly demolished when this kind of thing goes on. For shame.

Desmond Tuck    |   San Mateo

 

Hatred is hatred

In his Aug. 6 letter to the editor, “Misusing the Shoah,” Rabbi Levin asks how we can “equate the tragic loss of 3,000 lives by a terrorist cell to the horrific … murder of 6 million.”

I believe we can equate the Holocaust to any mass killing in the name of hatred. The numbers killed in the WTC attack may be smaller than the number of Jews slaughtered in the Holocaust, but the hatred behind these two atrocities is the same.

When we say, “We must not forget,” we must include the indiscriminate hatred and oppression of all groups — not just Jews. Otherwise, we have indeed forgotten.

Laura Siegel   |   Pacifica