True ‘Peace-Building’ in the Middle East

Re “Justice Without Borders” (Dec. 16), about Israelis and Palestinians who defy divisions in the ongoing struggles for justice and peace in this intractable Mideast conflict: Both peoples are plagued by leaders who are hard-liners and devoid of vision, while the killing of each other’s children hardens hearts and breeds intolerance among those who must eventually live together. Such forces bode poorly for traditional diplomacy and the success of Secretary of State Colin Powell’s “road map” for peace -- as does the recent appointment of Elliott Abrams [to lead the National Security Council’s Office for Near East and North African Affairs].

Recognizing this deadlock, an increasing number of Israelis and Palestinians are acting out of a deep commitment to basic human rights to engage in what we term “peace-building.” In addition to attorneys such as Leah Tzemel and Shamai Leibowitz, one can point to the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, Al Haq (Law in the Service of Man) and B’Tselem (the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories), which documents abuses by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as other organizations.

While extremists in the region promote religious states and advocate “transfer,” i.e., ethnic cleansing, these principled groups are laying the foundations of a society where both peoples can pursue their dreams of democracy and security. We should be supporting these efforts rather than pouring billions of dollars of military assistance into the tinderbox.

Donald Will

Delp-Wilkinson Professor

of Peace Studies

Dept. of Political Science

Chapman University

Orange

*

Your front-page article on the Israeli leftists trying to aid Palestinian terrorists in court is a good illustration of why most of the Israeli public has such a low opinion of them. Nowhere in Arab lands have Jews been accorded any rights, not that there are any left to speak of following the 1948-60 pogroms and formalized discrimination. These leftists have shown time and time again that they distort and lie to advance their agenda.

Richard Sol

Los Angeles