Dangers unspoken
The letter “Dangerous precedents” (Aug. 6) correctly states that the states do not have the constitutional authority to override the authority of the federal government to label the current Jewish settlements as illegitimate, illegal, immoral, and anti-peace enterprise. However, it is silent as to the nature of the existing, long-standing obstacle of the two state solution: the refusal of Arabs and of the Palestinians to accept the 1947 UN Partition Plan.
The 1947 plan sanctioned the establishment of two nations in the Palestinian territory, one with a Jewish majority and the other with an Arab majority. The hostilities first initiated by the Palestinians in 1947 than followed by the 1948 Arab invasion of Israel resulted in the displacement of Jews and Arabs from within the Palestinian Territory and expulsion of Jews from Israel’s neighboring Arab nations. The letter is silent with respect to the significance of the current Palestinian demand for the return of those Palestinians and of the descendants of those Palestinians who were involved in the failed attempt to stop the Jewish community from establishing a Jewish state. If Israel acceded to this demand it would turn the current Jewish majority into a minority.
The letter’s thrust that Israeli occupation is an obstacle to a peace settlement ignores that Israel gave the Palestinian Authority control of Gaza, completely withdrawing its presence from this territory. Shortly afterwards, the PA lost control of Gaza to Hamas, whose founding charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel.
Marvin Elmowitz
West Caldwell
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