Summits, Settlers and the Search for Peace

Re “U.S. Puts Onus on Palestinians,” Nov. 13: The news report says “[President] Bush is lukewarm to [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair’s call for a Mideast summit, instead urging democratic reforms.” Finally we have a president who is wise enough not to believe in signing a peace treaty like the one brokered by President Clinton, which now seems to be a waste of paper. Besides, today’s Israel under the leadership of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon probably has learned that it won’t work just to sign a treaty with the one hand of the enemy, while leaving the enemy’s other hand, like the Hamas organization, etc., free to throw punches at you.

Peter L. Chang

San Gabriel

*

Re “Settlers Spark Risk of Civil War,” Opinion, Nov. 14: Yossi Melman’s accusations against the settler leaders are totally unjustified. The Yesha Council, which is the official representative body for more than 220,000 Israelis living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, has repeatedly made it clear that we will only express our opposition to the government’s withdrawal policies through peaceful forms of demonstration. We have all the respect in the world for Sharon.

However, we do believe that a withdrawal from Gaza will only worsen the security situation for Israelis throughout the country. Just threatening a retreat has already convinced the Arab terror groups that their murderous ways are reaping benefits.

Josh Hasten

Yesha Council spokesman

Jerusalem

*

Melman brings up an aspect of religious fundamentalism that is rarely covered in the mainstream press and is important in understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Islamic fundamentalism/terrorism is very well presented in the media. However, the extent that the Jewish extremists are willing to go to in order to push farther into the occupied territories surpasses the tactics that the Palestinian militants have used.

Instead of using suicide bombings, the Jewish extremists rely on the Israeli Defense Forces to carry out destructive attacks and protect their interests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Over the last four years, three times as many Palestinians as Israelis have been killed, with many of these being innocent women and children.

It’s ironic that the media have portrayed Palestinians and Yasser Arafat as “terrorists” but fail to acknowledge that many right-wing Jews are ready to kill their own leader, let alone Palestinians, to maintain and expand their settlements.

Azra Ali

Northridge