To the Editor:
In discussing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute (“The Two-State Solution Doesn’t Solve Anything,” Op-Ed, Aug. 11), Hussein Agha and Robert Malley stress dislocation and subsequent refugee status as core Palestinian grievances.
Every people is defined by its own historical narrative. But the Palestinians became refugees, in large measure, because of bad choices they made, especially rejecting the 1947 United Nations partition plan and joining a war to destroy the new state of Israel. Has any war not produced refugees?
Since then, the United Nations has protected the Palestinians by creating a separate agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, while all other refugees worldwide are under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
A separate definition of refugee eligibility has been created for Palestinians, allowing their descendants, without limitation, to fall under the purview of Unrwa, thus perpetuating a culture of victimization.
Being an actual refugee is not easy. I have seen it up close. My parents were both refugees. So was my wife. And I worked in refugee resettlement long enough to understand the trauma caused by dislocation — and the capacity for renewal.
Isn’t it high time for the Palestinians to confront current realities and historical failures, and move on to embrace a pragmatic peace accord that promises a better future for all, Israelis and Palestinians alike?
David Harris
Executive Director
American Jewish Committee
New York, Aug. 11, 2009
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