Letters: Israel’s 1967 war

Re “Six days, 45 years later,” Opinion, June 6

Miko Peled’s Op-Ed article is an outrageous attempt to rewrite 45 years of established history. He implies that Arab armies were the victims ofIsrael’sbelligerence, completely disregarding the mortal threat posed by half a million Arab soldiers and 5,000 tanks converging onIsrael’sborders, backed by genocidal calls to annihilate the Jewish state.

Peled’s use of extreme terminology, such asIsrael’ssupposed “reign of terror” (with no mention of Palestinian terror) and “racist laws,” while calling for a one-state solution, reveals his radical agenda, which should have no place in a reputable publication such as The Times. While Peled is entitled to his opinion, The Times does itself and its readers a disservice by publishing such a sensational conspiracy theory.

David Siegel

Los Angeles

The writer is the consul general of Israel in Los Angeles.

Peled informatively summarizes much of the opportunity to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians but is wrong that the only solution is a shared state.

Rather, the solution lies in effectively apportioning the land based on three criteria: areas that will presumably remain part of Israel, such as the Jerusalem suburbs of Ma’ale Adumim and Gilo; areas certain to become part of a future Palestinian state, such as Ramallah, Jericho, Jenin and most of the West Bank; and negotiating land swaps for disputed areas, such as Efrat and Ariel, heavily populated Jewish cities that are not adjacent to Jerusalem.

One should never discount the value of maintaining hope and respecting mutual aspirations in constructing an ultimately satisfactory resolution to this solvable territorial disagreement.

David Alpern

Long Beach

Peled’s is a voice we need to hear — a reasonable one that unmasks the facade that is Israeli democracy with its discriminatory treatment of Israeli Arabs and immigrants and few rights for more than 4 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

I traveled to the West Bank recently and witnessed the humiliating checkpoints, the travel and economic restrictions, the Israeli-only highways and the “settlements” that are actually cities stealing more and more of the West Bank — all of which seem designed to make life so difficult that the Palestinians will leave. But this is also their ancestral home, their land.

It is time to end this 45-year occupation — and find ways to make amends on both sides so that all those living in the region can begin to live and work and raise their families without fear of “the

other.”

Debra E. Daly

Anaheim

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