‘In One Stroke, Palestine Exists’

According to William Pfaff (“In One Stroke, Palestine Exists,” Op-Ed Page, Aug. 3) there is now a Palestinian state, courtesy of King Hussein of Jordan, albeit now under Israeli military occupation.

In my opinion, the only way the Palestinian problem can be settled peacefully is for religion to be eliminated from the equation. A theocracy like Israel is an anachronism in the modern world. It should become a secular state and a true democracy with a constitution guaranteeing complete freedom of religion and equal civil rights for all. It could then annex the West Bank and Gaza and incorporate them into the state of Israel, and all the exiled Palestinians could return to their native land and become full citizens.

It is true that the population would soon become predominately Arab but why not? That’s the way it should be. Arabs and Jews lived together in Palestine for hundreds of years, why not again?

It would be necessary for Israel to restore the homes and other property it had appropriated, but this would not need to be done all at once; there is, after all, room in Palestine for all the Jews now living there and all the Palestinians as well.

This solution will never be reached, of course, as long as the Likud and its supporters remain in power, and as long as they continue to have the support of the Israeli lobby in America. But the situation in the region is not going to remain static--there will be changes--and they will entail more bloodshed unless and until reason prevails.

The Zionist dream has turned out to be greatly flawed. Jews from all over the world are not rushing to Israel. They much prefer to stay in or go to America.

BLANCHE KERR

Los Angeles