The battle over Mideast peace
Re “Roadblock to peace,” Editorial, June 16
I am writing in support of your editorial. It is far past time for the issue of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine to be discussed in the U.S. and international media.
I traveled to the occupied Palestinian territories last year, and I can confirm that the continued Israeli colonization of Palestinian land through settlements, private highways, checkpoints and military outposts is the No. 1 obstacle to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
I saw this fundamentally unjust system firsthand and was shocked beyond belief.
We must, as a country, move to confront this last vestige of the old colonialism, and the awareness from articles like yours is the first step in that direction.
Matthew Thomas Miller
Cincinnati
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Thank you for your editorial. Not only does Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not want a separate Palestinian state, he and his regime do not want peace. Period.
And we, the American public, are happily paying through our taxes millions of dollars so that the Israelis settle foreigners in Palestinian lands, kill their people, steal their homes and destroy their olive groves.
So who is to blame for this? Why us, the Americans, of course. And how? Because our politicians feel they are over a barrel and cannot criticize Israel. It is all about control and power. But we must remember that people will only have the power that we relinquish to them.
Julianna Gustafson Lira
Houston
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Amazing. The Times is actually demanding that Israel self-destruct, and whining that its refusal to do so is an obstacle to peace.
Julie O’Neill
Mountain View, Calif.
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President Obama needs to move away from being a broker to become a negotiator to make anything in the Mideast work for both sides of the table.
History has shown us that it takes respect from both sides to come to agreeable terms. There is always a give-and-take to make it work. If one side doesn’t, then it will never work. One cannot expect it to be all one-sided for a solution to be found.
But to be moved by rational argument, a person or newspaper has to be open to rational discourse, and one can’t find all that many among today’s newspapers, let alone expect it from the Obama administration when it comes to the Mideast.
Juan Ramirez
Moreno Valley
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I would like to applaud your editorial. Netanyahu’s contorted views of the world and treatment of the Palestinian people do great damage to U.S. interests in the region, and we must do more to pressure him into agreeing to and abiding by a real peace.
Tauheed Safi
Fremont, Calif.
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The historical significance of Netanyahu’s speech was not grasped in the negative lines of your editorial. It focused on the obstacles -- which I agree are numerous. But that is the most assured recipe for failure.
Netanyahu’s speech was significant as he articulated the will of Israel to compromise part of its historic Jewish homeland by resuming negotiations for a two-state solution right away.
The real key to peace lies in the Arab world’s unequivocal recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
When our partners understand where we come from and respect our heritage, tradition and long history in the region, then will we be hopeful that real peace can be achieved. Peace must come out of mutual acceptance, respect and appreciation.
Let’s start a new approach of focusing on what we have in common rather than what breaks us apart. We want a permanent, peaceful solution, and we want to take the steps to achieve it now.
Jacob Dayan
Los Angeles
The writer is the consul general of Israel.