Letter filled with misconceptions

Richard Goodwin misinterprets the articles he addressed in his letter of Sept. 23 (Pg. 19) and displays numerous misconceptions about the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Israeli "foot-dragging" to peace implies that Israel has only to make the right concessions to the Arabs, who teach and preach to their children hatred of Jews and the destruction of Israel, for peace to ensue. One shouldn't forget that in 1993 Israel agreed to the creation of the Palestinian Authority to govern social and economic concerns and Arab self-government after five years of peace. In exchange, Palestinian Arabs agreed to end incitement and dismantle all terrorist organizations. Incitement has since become institutionalized throughout every sector of their society and terrorism increased dramatically.

He refers to an Israeli grab of Arab land. Arab land? The "West Bank" and Gaza are the last remnants of former Ottoman Empire territory yet to gain sovereignty since the end of WWI. The Ottomans were not Arabs. Total ethnic cleansing of all Jews occurred during the Arab 19-year occupation that followed the 1948 invasions. This includes the neighborhoods on the east side of Jerusalem, Israel's capital city. "Arab East Jerusalem" was just that because all the Jews were either killed or kicked out.

The security barrier does cause inconveniences, but while they are temporary, the death and injury from Arab terrorism it prevents is permanent. Also, accommodations for Arab farmers have been in place and the barrier has been rerouted since Israeli courts ruled in their favor.

Incidentally, the "brave peace" quote Goodwin attributed to Yitzhak Rabin belonged to that paragon of virtue—Yasser Arafat—in 1993.

Yours for a just and permanent peace,
Michael D. Perloff
Cherry Hill