Removal of settlers
Denver Post, 12/05/01
Letter to the Editor
by Ron Forthofer
Re: "Arabs stand in way of peace," Open Forum Nov. 29.
The letter by Lela Kay fails to address the illegality and immorality of the
Israeli occupation and settlements.
Kay falsely claims that Israel was attacked in 1948, 1956 and 1967. By the time
limited Arab forces entered Palestine in 1948, more than 200,000 Palestinians
had already been driven from their homes by Jewish attacks and massacres or by
the fear of Jewish attack. In 1956, Israel, France and Britain attacked Egypt.
In 1967, Israel again attacked Egypt. Even former Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin admitted that "In June 1967 we had a choice. The Egyptian army
concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about
to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him." (New
York Times Aug. 21, 1982).
Kay also falsely claims that Arafat was "all but handed the key to a Palestinian
homeland" at Camp David but he rejected it and then started the second intifada.
In the New York Review of Books this summer, Hussein Agha and Robert Malley (a
member of the Clinton team) correct the record and lay much of the blame for the
Camp David debacle on Ehud Barak, but not on him alone. Gush Shalom, an Israeli
peace group, goes into detail, including maps, on Barak's offer. The maps
clearly show that the offer at Camp David would not have led to a viable
Palestinian state.
In addition, Kay ignored Ariel Sharon's role in lighting the spark that set off
the second intifada. Sharon, along with 1,000 armed police, invaded Islam's
third holiest site. The next day, when Palestinians protested, Israeli forces
opened fire on the unarmed protesters. Thus was the intifada born. Sharon and
Barak, who allowed Sharon to go to the site, played a central role in sparking
the intifada.
A just and lasting peace in the Middle East requires an end to Israel's
occupation and a removal of its settlers. The U.S. can help to bring about peace
or it can choose to continue its one-sided support of Israel and its brutal and
illegal acts. The choice is ours.
RON FORTHOFER
Longmont