What’s wrong with a right of return?

Re “Locked out by peace?” Opinion, Dec. 1

That Ghada Ageel’s Palestinian grandparents suffered a tragedy in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 is beyond question. The same fate befell more than half a million Jews compelled to flee Muslim countries in the war’s aftermath under no less duress. The right of return is potent rhetoric, proffering a simplistic solution to a hugely complex problem. For anyone seeking a stable peace, it is a complete nonstarter. This so- called right would result in massive Palestinian migration to Israel, transforming the country beyond recognition.

Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state derives not only from historical imperative -- 2,000 years of persecution, culminating in the Holocaust -- but from a 1947 United Nations resolution. It is ridiculous to suggest that Israel would ever bargain away the Jewish state. The right of return has no place at the bargaining table.

Peter Melnick

Montecito

As a Jewish American who believes passionately in justice, I agree with Ageel that a state that privileges Jews above others, as Israel does, is inherently unjust and undemocratic. Religious or ethnic affiliation still confer special privileges in many nations, but we do not count them among the world’s enlightened democracies. Israel must accept the reality that it is a Middle Eastern country, not a colonial outpost of the West. It must adopt a constitution that establishes equal rights and responsibilities for all its citizens. Then it truly may become what it now pretends to be: a model of democracy for western Asia.

The right of return for Palestinians must be written into the constitution, along with a guarantee of refuge for Jews and others seeking haven from persecution elsewhere.

Evalyn F. Segal

Philadelphia

As a second-generation Palestinian American whose entire family was forced out of its picturesque village of Deir Ayoub in 1948, I have always felt a connection to the Palestinian refugee identity and to the land that was seized from my grandparents. The struggle of Palestinian refugees is an extraordinary and heartbreaking one that is not portrayed enough in mainstream American society. I’ve witnessed this struggle my entire life as I watched my elderly grandparents cling to the hope that someday they would return to their homes in Deir Ayoub.

The publication of Ageel’s Op-Ed article is a step in the right direction in giving readers a glimpse into the struggle of loss and life of the Palestinian refugees.

Amira Yousef

Santa Ana

What is the Arab model for a tolerant, multi-religious, multiethnic state? Lebanon? Iraq? Moreover, why is a predominantly Palestinian, Arab, Islamic, French, Chinese, Christian or African state not racist and repugnant, but a Jewish state is?

Jerry Scharlin

Encino

The Jews were robbed of Israel in 135 when the Romans forced them out. Palestinians forget that the Ottoman Empire lost control of the Holy Land after World War I. Muslims were not the victors. It was a British mandate for a while, and part of it was given back to the Jews under U.N. auspices. That’s not to say Palestinians don’t have rights, but they should not be able to dictate the terms.

Every effort for decades to make peace with Israel has been rejected by the Palestinians. Who could guarantee that Palestinians would not attack Jews if the right of return were implemented? Who could guarantee the Jews would not attack Palestinians? There flat-out isn’t going to be a right of return, nor will there be a divided Jerusalem.

Kathleen Wagar

Anoka, Minn.