Dear Mr. Bird,
I read your New York Times op-ed, "Who Lives in Sheik Jarrah?" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/opinion/01bird.html?ref=opinion), and have several questions concerning your conclusion:
"If Israel wishes to remain largely Jewish and democratic, then it must soon withdraw from all of the occupied territories and negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. And if not, it should at least let the Kalbians go home again."
As an Israeli who favors a two-state solution and wishes to withdraw from the West Bank with land swaps as necessary, I would first observe that your proposal for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital has already been offered by Israeli prime ministers Barak and Olmert and refused, respectively, by Arafat and Abbas. Why is there no mention of this in your op-ed?
I would also observe that it is very difficult to negotiate any kind of settlement with Abbas, who, with the encouragement of the Obama administration, refuses to begin "proximity talks", i.e. negotiations where the parties don't even sit at the same table, without Israel first agreeing in advance to his terms.
Negotiate with Hamas, the rulers of Gaza? Sure. The problem, however, is that the Hamas charter inter alia provides:
"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
"The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up."
"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."
"The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."
Do you honestly believe that Hamas, whose principal benefactor is Iran and which has its own Middle East agenda, will negotiate with Israel any time soon?
Also, there is no mention in your op-ed of the some 800,000 Jews who, when Israel was established, were evicted from their homes in Arab countries and deprived of all of their belongings. I can of course understand your deep personal concern for your former neighbors, the Kalbians, in Sheik Jarrah, but are those 800,000 Jewish refugees just a number for you? Are they not also entitled to compensation? Are they not also entitled to at least some passing mention in your op-ed?
I also wish to relate to your observation:
"And it is, to an extent — although much of the world doesn’t recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to halt the construction of new housing units for Jewish Israelis in the Arab neighborhoods."
First it need be noted that the construction in Ramat Shlomo is not occurring in an "Arab neighborhood", rather it is occurring on a barren hill overlooking the narrow corridor leading into West Jerusalem. This is indeed one of those small pieces of land (several hundred square yards) which will need to be swapped in order to prevent future sniping attacks, which could choke off West Jerusalem.
Second, are you suggesting that Jews have no right to build in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, which was totally reduced to rubble - both homes and synagogues - in 1948 by the Jordanian Arab Legion, and where Jews, until 1967, were forbidden to pray beside the Wailing Wall ("Kotel")? This is not acceptable to Israelis from either the "right" or the "left".
"Who Lives in Sheik Jarrah?" Why not both Arabs and Jews, even if Sheik Jarrah ultimately becomes part of the capital of a Palestinian state?
I'm certain your childhood memories of the Kalbians are vivid; however, any attempt at a solution of the Jewish-Palestinian problem requires a wider, more knowledgeable, more compassionate view - which also accounts for the hundreds of thousands of Jews evicted from their homes in the Middle East.
Yours sincerely,
Jeffrey
No comments:
Post a Comment