April 23: Shape of peace

This is where their legations would have to be if they really believed in what they profess about the shape of a peace.

By ADAM DALES
Letters 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Letters 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Shape of peace
Sir, – Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s nice turn in sarcasm toward Europe’s foreign policy chief (“Liberman slams remarks by EU’s Ashton against construction in settlements,” April 20) needs a practical, fine-focus reinforcement to expose Israel’s critics.
He should tell the US and European Union that if they really believe in two states with their capitals in Jerusalem, they should make this point to their Arab oil suppliers and arms clients by moving their embassies in Israel to west Jerusalem. This is where their legations would have to be if they really believed in what they profess about the shape of a peace.
FRANK ADAM
Prestwich,
UK Transfer an option...
Sir, – Like many engaged in quasi- governmental positions, Paul Gross (“There’ll be no Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement – so what now?” Comment & Features, April 20) appears to be floating a governmental trial balloon to gauge public opinion with its inherent dangers.
Like most, if not all, such political commentators, it clearly appears that there is no knowledge of past international population transfers.
As 80 percent of Mandatory Palestine that should have been part of the Jewish state was given to a sheikh from the Arabian desert whose descendants, the Hashemites, rule over kingdom that has an almost 80% majority of inhabitants claiming to be of Palestinian origin, the logical solution is to effect a transfer there of the Arab inhabitants of Judea and Samaria, our historical heartland.
Jordan is effectively Palestine. It is time we and the international community stopped pussyfooting over this issue.
Have we such short memories of how the Jews were transferred out of Arab countries in 1948 and later, and settled in Israel, or of the exchange of populations between India and Pakistan? JUDITH BARNET Jerusalem ...or just stop trying Sir, – It is time we decided that the best agreement with the Palestinians is no agreement.
We will plug away at building a state that everyone will be jealous of. They (the Muslims, Ashtons and maybe even Kerrys) will threaten and cajole, and we will continue to build and make children.
MURRAY S. GREENFIELD
Tel Aviv
Here forever
Sir, – Our prime minister is smashed, bashed, degraded and humiliated by the US and other world powers. Why? Because he stands up and fights for the survival of his people and the Jewish state of Israel.
One day (and hopefully soon), nations and world organizations will open their eyes and see that all their ideas and destructive plans for the State of Israel have boomeranged.
We proclaim to the world: We, the Jewish people of Israel, are home and planning to stay here forever.
HINDI PETASHNICK
Jerusalem Bound to disagree
Sir, – Reader James Adler (“Totally in-bounds,” Letters, April 20) wonders why Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is out of bounds in going to the United Nations. He forgets or ignores that by going to the UN the Palestinians have violated the terms of the Oslo Accords.
Adler remarks that “the Palestinians should have been launched on their trajectory toward decolonization and statehood way back in 1922,” but there was at the time no such trajectory because they did not consider themselves colonized. He claims “it is the Israelis who have a state on 80% of Palestine and occupy the rest of it,” but if you look at a map of the Jewish homeland as envisaged in the San Remo Convention you will see that by 1947 the Jews possessed only 22%.
Adler claims that Israel tried for statehood unilaterally. On the contrary, it had the backing of the entire Western world and the UN.
It also had built all the necessary infrastructure for statehood. The Palestinians have built only one infrastructure with all their billions in aid: the infrastructure of terror.
ANNE KLAUSNER
Petah Tikva
Sir, – James Adler states that the Palestinians “are trying for statehood through the UN in exactly the same ‘unilateral’ way Israel did.” But in fact, Israel was recognized by the UN after the world body’s 1947 partition plan was accepted by Jewish representatives.
At that time there was no recognized Arab Palestine. The Arab countries attacked and were defeated. It was also the Jews who fought colonization by defeating the British, who intended to annex Palestine for their empire. The Arabs were in fact pro-German and only afterwards pro-British.
How convenient to forget all this relevant history.
JACK COHEN
Netanya
Wider ramifications
Sir, – In “Do we need public broadcasting?” (Media Comment, April 17), Yisrael Medad and Eli Pollak cite many of the Israel Broadcasting Authority’s veteran broadcasters, their political and social views, and the need for a change at the helm of their shows. Perhaps Medad and Pollak are right and new blood is needed.
Yet these are only the external faces of the IBA. There are many, many behind-the-scenes workers who are dedicated to their craft, such as computer people, lighting experts, radio producers, camerapeople, soundpeople, wardrobe managers, logistics workers, etc.
who do not want to lose their jobs.
Everyone understands the need for improvement. In fact, there was a complete reform package signed by management and all the unions that included letting go of 700 people, a third of the work force.
But the Treasury is now blocking it! Unbelievable! So before condemning the entire enterprise, sirs, please consider the wider ramifications.
BATYA BERLINGER
Jerusalem
Went down poorly
Sir, – I was amazed and disgusted to see that you reprinted the New York Times article “Are Iran and Israel trading places?” (Comment & Features, April 16), which likened society and politics in Israel to those in Iran.
The article would have gone down well in a daily paper published in Ramallah or the United Arab Emirates.
ALLAN LEIBLER
Jerusalem
Water, water, nowhere
Sir, – The Post recently reported on water shortages in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem (“East Jerusalem residents petition High Court over lack of water,” March 26).
Subsequently, an Associated Press article headlined “Thousands of Jerusalem Arabs without Water” appeared in the UK’s Daily Mail and probably dozens of printed media outlets worldwide, being viewed by millions of readers.
In early April I emailed a copy of the article as it appeared in the Daily Mail to Jerusalem’s mayor, using the form the municipality provides on its website. Whoever might be responsible for what appears to be a disgraceful state of affairs, Mayor Nir Barkat is undoubtedly accountable for the welfare and well-being of his residents.
On behalf of a group I represent, Truth be Told, which undertakes public diplomacy on behalf of Israel in English-speaking countries, I requested guidance as to how to reply to the article. To date, the mayor has not seen fit to reply or even acknowledge receipt.
I now request guidance from readers as to how, on the one hand, the article should be replied to, and, on the other, the mayor might be influenced to take responsibility for this unacceptable state of affairs. If he desires that the city’s Arabs remain part of an undivided Jerusalem, it is essential that he be aware that the buck to provide local services stops with him.
Mayor Barkat, are you going to destroy your name and the reputation of the city of Jerusalem by ignoring this important issue?
CHARLES M. ABELSOHN
Kfar Saba
CORRECTION The headline “Asia to overtake US as Israel’s top export destination in 2014” (April 22) should have said that Asia is set to become Israel’s second biggest export destination, and not its top export destination.