Palestinian Demands in Peace Talks
Your editorial of Nov. 11 (“No Time for Letup in Mideast Talks”) asserts that “unrealistic demands” of the Palestinians are a “key problem” which could cost them “at least a beginning level of self-government in the years ahead.”
Why are Palestinians “unrealistic” for demanding the end of their oppression by Israel? Are they “unrealistic” for insisting that Israel stop seizing their land and water resources, freeze expansion of Jewish settlements, release rather than torture political prisoners, and commit itself to total withdrawal from occupied Palestinian lands, steps required by United Nations resolutions, international law, and the Geneva Convention?
Conversely, is Israel being “unrealistic” by violating international law and human rights, yet insisting that Arab states and Palestinians accept Israel under those conditions? Or by insisting that U.S. taxpayers give Israel $10 million a day in aid, aid which makes possible Israel’s territorial expansion?
Rather than blaming the victims--the Palestinians--the U.S. media ought to apply the same standards to Israel’s actions which they apply to other nations. Is it conceivable, for example, that The Times would blame the victims for a deadlock in negotiations if the people deprived of basic rights were Jews? Or blame the African National Congress for the “unrealistic demand” of a South Africa where whites will live as a minority in an overwhelmingly black state, a demand which goes much further than the Palestinian demand for a Palestinian state in only 22% of their homeland? When double standards are applied to Jews or blacks, we call it anti-Semitism or racism. Is it any better when we victimize Arabs?
Finally, it is the height of unrealism for U.S. journalists and politicians to apply double standards to the Arab-Israeli conflict and to then expect to gain a peace that protects the rights and security of both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs.
EDMUND R. HANAUER
Executive Director, Search for Justice
and Equality in Palestine/Israel
Framingham, Mass.
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