Letters to the Editor

Expansionism foiling two-state solution

Israel's settlement expansionism is reversing the long post-World War II decline in anti-Semitism.

Haaretz reports that the "construction in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem is continuing full speed ahead" (Haaretz Editorial, "Fooling Ourselves," April 1) and that the momentum for settlement construction is unprecedented.

After Iraq occupied Kuwait, it was sent back to its borders. Tragically Israel, certainly "the only democracy in the Middle East," now seems also to have become "the only expansionist in the Middle East."

Exacerbating the anti-Semitic resurgence is the fact that Israel denies any fundamental barrier between state and religion, so settlement expansion is done not in the name of Israeli but Jewish state identity. Palestinians, less interested in European history and more in the continuing confiscation of their land, hear the Israelis substituting one identity for the other and simply copy it.

Ongoing expansionism rebukes the two-state solution. Israelis and Jews everywhere need and deserve the establishment of two states adjoining the 1967 borders - with Western, Arab League, and ironclad American peace and security guarantees - and, as a gradual consequence, the slow resumption of the Postwar decline and eventual disappearance of anti-Semitism from the earth.

James Adler

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Think before criticizing us

Regarding "The Lie of the Land," April 9

When speaking with reporter Dana Gilerman, Prof. W.J.T. Mitchell compared the Negev landscape to the Nevada of his childhood, but said he strongly opposes the Zionist enterprise. I would like to ask him a simple question:

Who gave the forefathers of his family and other settlers in Nevada (and most parts of America) the right to chase out the original Indian settlers, frequently killing them, and to exile them to closed reservations (until recently)?

This is not the place to make lengthy historical comparisons about our forefathers, but it would be nice if he would give the Palestinians the same kind of advice that he gives Native Americans - if he ever were to think to approach them. For a long time, Israel has had a strong Peace Now organization and other similar movements, but where are such Palestinian groups? And why has the Palestinian leadership always been belligerent? Think about it when you criticize our actions.

Prof. (emeritus) Dan Yaalon

Hebrew University, Givat Ram Campus