True barriers to Mideast peace

Re: Can a two-state solution ever be realized? — Dec. 19

Contrary to Shawky Fahel, Israel has always been looking to make peace, but any offer to create a Palestinian State has been ceremoniously rejected by its Arab brethren in 1937, 1939, 1947, 1979, 1990s, 2000 and 2008. Importantly, the Israeli offer at the 2000 Camp David Accords was exceedingly generous.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians 97 per cent of the West Bank, 100 per cent of Gaza, the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and even the surrender of precious Israeli land to increase the size of Gaza by a third. Yasser Arafat walked away and didn’t even make a counteroffer.

In 2008, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert offered much of the same as Barak, but according to the Jerusalem Post, Olmert essentially agreed to forgo sovereignty of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site, and proposed that in the framework of a peace agreement, the area containing the religious sites in Jerusalem would be managed by a special committee consisting of representatives from five nations; Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, the United States and Israel.

The detestation toward Israel by Arabs and Muslims goes back way before modern-day Israel was established. Had Israel never been created in 1948, Jews would still face relentless attacks from the Muslim, Arab world.

Israel has tried to offer solutions and peace plans. However, the Palestinian’s failure to disavow terror, their refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist and their unyielding demands for a Palestinian state to be created from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, are the true barriers to Mideast peace. Mike Fegelman, executive director HonestReporting Canada Toronto