Kurdish statehood
With regard to “Kurdish statehood” (Editorial, September 27), the Kurds are a large, distinct, pro-western and pro-US ethnic group that needs US support for their aspirations. Their Peshmerga and other military groups are able and independent fighters. They have been our main allies in Iran and Syria, and are much more dependable than our fair-weather, two-faced Arab “friends.”
Their numbers, legitimacy, history and suffering far exceed those of the much smaller and recently invented nation of “Palestine,” which gets inordinate attention, aid and political clout because its conflict is judged by the degree to which it has been politicized and manipulated by politicians, academicians and the media, rather than by any true facts.
No facts or any comparison to the “Palestinian cause” merit the suppression of an independent Kurdistan.
Palestinians, who allegedly number 4.5 million, did not exist 50 years ago and are essentially indistinguishable from the citizens of the many Arab nations that could fully absorb them if it weren’t for the Palestinians being a useful political tool to undermine Israel. The Kurds, on the other hand, number 35 million and are an ancient and distinct people who trace their history to 612 BCE.
For the world to be consistent with its politically correct concerns, the Kurds should be fully supported against the dictatorships oppressing them. Viva the brave people of Kurdistan! RON WEISS St. James, New York
I found the crux of your editorial – that those who value democratic values and the right of a people to self-determination cannot but be moved by the referendum on independence for Iraqi Kurdistan – to be perplexing. Why not show similar enthusiasm and support for the sovereignty, independence and self-determination of the Palestinian people and, more importantly, for the two-state solution, an independent Palestine living side by side with a secure Israel?
You cannot claim the upper moral hand while turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to Israel’s criminal measures, its cheapening of Jordanian and Palestinian blood, its violations of Islamic and Christian holy places in Jerusalem as well as the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, which affirms the Hashemites’ role as custodians of holy places, and its ongoing attempts to change the historical and legal status quo of the Noble Sanctuary (Temple Mount), revered by over 1.5 billion Muslims throughout the world.
It is time to ignite a flurry of efforts to bring a lasting peace to the children of Abraham in the Holy Land. MUNJED FARID AL QUTOB London