April 21, 2013

Letters to the Editor

Israelis have gone the extra mile

Jewish communities in what for millennia have been called Judea and Samaria are built on about 1 percent of the territory, and yet they’re seen by some commentators as an obstacle to ending the Arab war against the Jewish people (“Time is running out for serious Mideast talk,” April 7)?

If the peace process is dead, the Arabs killed it. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas never stopped inciting hatred and violence against Jews via official media, schools, and mosques. Meanwhile, Israel has instilled in successive generations that Arabs are peace partners.

In 2005, Israel forced some 10,000 Jewish residents out of the Gaza Strip and four towns in Samaria, and gave Gaza to the Arabs. Hamas now controls Gaza. It has since fired more than 8,000 rockets and mortars at Israel. Its charter calls for the annihilation of the Jewish people, yet Israel still supplies Gaza with necessities, gives tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority, and has allowed it to arm and train an army.

Israel has offered substantial territorial concessions and halted construction in Judea and Samaria for 10 months to try to coax the Arabs back to negotiating. Yet Palestinian Arabs throw rocks and firebombs at Jews. So peace will come when the Arabs are willing to recognize an independent Jewish nation in their midst. 

Lee Bender and Howard Katzoff, co-presidents,
Steve Feldman, executive director 
Zionist Organization of America Greater Philadelphia District