Letter: Israeli charade
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: The leader "Baseless optimism for the Middle East" (30 September) doesn't go far enough. The sorry truth is that current negotiations, as well as all speculation over whether Yasser Arafat will declare a Palestinian state on 4 May next year, are essentially meaningless.
Two weeks ago in the West Bank town of Bitunia, a Jewish settler from Dolev shot two Palestinian teenagers, one of whom died. The settler was arrested and released - placed under "house arrest". As one Israeli journalist put it, he is now "vacationing at a youth hostel" in Jerusalem. In April, another Dolev settler had shot a Palestinian and been acquitted.
The Palestinian Authority is under enormous, unrelenting pressure to safeguard Israelis from Palestinian violence while Israel does virtually nothing to curb the violent settlers. Israel will never achieve meaningful peace with its neighbours until the underlying assumption of Jewish superiority has been at least weakened.
JIM RISSMAN
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments