LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fallacies won’t help Mideast peace
In his May 11 column “Palestinians fail to work for peace,” Steve Huntley gives history a wide berth and offers little that is accurate.
For example, the Palestinian territories are not “disputed,” but illegally occupied. Israel’s 10-month “moratorium” on settlement activity in 2010 never took place. There is no evidence whatsoever of a nuclear weapons program in Iran. And so on throughout the column.
The centerpiece of Huntley’s article, however, is Palestinian obstruction of peace “that has for decades foreclosed every realistic option to end the Israeli-palestinian conflict.” The diplomatic history tells a very different story.
In the decades since the 1967 war, Israel has rejected a long list of proposals. Many of the initiatives were actually advanced by the Palestinians and/or Arab states, calling for a two-state solution. Israel did present its own initiative in 1989, suggesting continued occupation.
On balance, the diplomatic record reveals that the true obstacle to the conflict’s resolution has instead been U.s.-israeli rejection for 45 years.
There is cause for optimism. A number of reasonable initiatives have been put forward in the last decade. And a majority of Palestinians, Israelis and Americans — along with the international community — are in favor of a twostate solution. The path forward is clear. Reiterating the standard fallacies and fictions, however, only moves the situation backward.
Gregory Harms, Joliet
Misstating a problem
I would like to clarify a few points in Mary Mitchell’s Tuesday column. First, blacks are not being hypocrites when voicing opinions against gay marriages. Statistically, blacks do not take part in marriage. Secondly, Mitchell states that the Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights activists not let President Barack Obama’s stance on gay marriage divide the black vote.
In other words, vote for the black politician regardless of his position on matters. Thirdly, black women are settling for less than marriage because they are “unable to find a suitable and willing mate.” As grandma used to say, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? And finally, “because of the nation’s failed drug policies, black youth in urban areas continue to be killed at rates more . . .” I believe what Mitchell meant to say is that black youth ignoring society’s laws pertaining to drugs is causing a higher mortality rate in black neighborhoods.
Misstating a problem allows unscrupulous people to misuse the coveted resources earmarked for the solutions to real problems.
Larry Casey, Forest Glen By mail: Letters to the Editor, Chicago Sun-times, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago, 60654 By fax: (312) 321-2120 By e-mail: letters@suntimes.com (no attachments) Letters must include name, address and daytime phone