Jerusalem: Whole or in part?

Re “Orthodox rabbi breaks with norm,” Oct. 27

If the division of Jerusalem were the only issue, Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky would have a good point. In reality, giving up a part of Jerusalem will not solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem, nor will removing the settlements from the West Bank. That was vividly demonstrated when Israel removed settlements from the Gaza Strip and Palestinians responded by accelerating attacks on Israeli communities.

I believe there is only one solution: Arab and Muslim children must be taught the Golden Rule. The term “infidels” and its connotations should be stricken from the Koran.

The situation in the Middle East is like a cancer: It can kill. Treat it by preventing its spread while getting at the root cause. Israel has been working on the former; the Arab world and Muslim leaders must work on the latter -- if they really want peace.

George Epstein

Los Angeles

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It’s not about “dividing” Jerusalem; it’s about sharing it. Forty years of “carrot and stick” diplomacy -- in which Israel gets billions of dollars in military aid and the Palestinians get the stick -- hasn’t brought peace.

Maybe helping a Palestinian state work will. Israeli children have healthcare; why not Palestinians? We know the families and clans that can make this happen with our support, just as it is happening in Iraq’s Anbar province. Will it be easy? Of course not. But building a society that works may succeed where the latest fighter aircraft hasn’t in more than 40 years.

George Saade

Downey

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Kanefsky’s talk of dividing Jerusalem is nothing new. Even if Israeli and Palestinian leaders were to come to an agreement tomorrow, you’d still have to deal with the facts on the ground -- the tens of thousands of Arabs currently living in East Jerusalem under Israeli control who don’t want to be part of a Palestinian state. Arabs with Israeli passports or identity cards know that their rights, freedoms and benefits under Israeli sovereignty-- no matter how flawed now -- are much better than they would ever be as citizens of a Palestinian state. Since the security barrier went up separating parts of the East Jerusalem area from West Jerusalem, many Arabs who ended up on the Palestinian side of the barrier have moved to the Israeli side. They want to be sure they don’t end up on the wrong side of the fence if Jerusalem ever is divided.

Kathy Hallgren

Hermosa Beach

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Kanefsky’s plea that we seriously consider sharing sovereignty over Jerusalem with the Palestinians is much less controversial in Israel than in the United States.

Polls of Israelis show growing support for dividing Jerusalem if it will help to promote peace. Moreover, the proportion of Jews living in Jerusalem is declining as modern Orthodox and secular Jews flee and ultra-Orthodox Jews increase their presence. This higher profile of ultra-Orthodox Jews, combined with increasing numbers of Palestinians moving into Jerusalem neighborhoods, is an explosive situation.

The sanctity of human life is a major theme of Jewish teaching and one of the highest values of Jewish tradition. Giving up a piece of land that is most precious to us in the name of preventing bloodshed is surely a way to glorify God; it’s not a repudiation of our spiritual patrimony.

Joseph Kaufman

Mission Viejo