Letters to the Editor: How terrorism has pushed Israelis to embrace far-right leaders
To the editor: Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab lashes out at the “right-wing” government of Israel. He laments that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said, “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people.”
Kuttab ignores the glaring fact that while the world recognized Israel in 1948, the Arabs in and around Israel did not and sought to annihilate the young Jewish state. To this day children in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority are taught that all of Israel is illegitimate.
He also ignores the fact that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat unleashed deadly violent attacks instead of following through on the Oslo Accords and other peace deals.
Smotrich gains allies because Israelis realize that appeasing terrorism has not worked.
Thomas Einstein, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Kuttab has accurately summarized the history of peace initiatives and the latest developments in Israel’s newly formed apartheid government.
In 2009, when I was in Beirut, I visited one of the largest of many Palestinian refugee camps, which since 1948 has grown into a city within a city. Palestinians cannot legally work outside the camp or gain Lebanese citizenship.
Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, has openly said that there are no such people as the Palestinians, and the government has increased assaults on West Bank cities and villages. With no jobs or hope for the future, the Palestinian youth will fight and die for a future Palestinian state.
Israel would be wise to consider the possible outcomes.
George Mouro, Rancho Mirage
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To the editor: There is only one way to settle the Palestinian situation, and it should have begun in 1948 with the inception of Israel. An international force must take the place of Israeli security the way it did in Berlin in 1945.
Second, the billions in aid given by the U.S. to Israel annually should be suspended until all settlements are abandoned and turned over to the Palestinians who were displaced.
Everyone reading this knows this is the answer, but as long as the inmates are running the asylum, it will not happen.
Chuck Heinz, West Hills
