The hate that is the real impediment to Israeli-Palestinian peace - by Stephen M. Flatow

...As long as Palestinians attempt to stone Jews to death for the crime of entering an Arab town or planting a tree on a hill, peace will indeed remain an elusive dream.

Stephen M. Flatow..
W. Post/Letters to the Editor..
04 February '18..
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-hate-that-is-the-real-impediment-to-israeli-palestinian-peace/2018/02/04/a72c9ff8-09cd-11e8-998c-96deb18cca19_story.html?utm_term=.45fc3ddbb974

In his Jan. 31 op-ed, “Crowding out a peace deal in the Mideast,” David Ignatius claimed that the existence of Jewish communities in the Judea-Samaria/West Bank region is the main obstacle to peace. Why should that be the case? The Jewish towns are located in the portion of the territories controlled by Israel, while 98 percent of the Palestinian Arabs reside in the portion controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Israel is not demanding the expulsion of Arabs from the Palestinian Authority areas; why should Arabs insist on the expulsion of Jews from the Israeli areas?

The real obstacle to peace was mentioned at the end of Mr. Ignatius’s column, when he noted that the Israeli army has posted signs outside Palestinian towns that read: “The entrance for Israeli citizens is forbidden. Dangerous to your lives.” Israeli Jews know from bitter experience that merely entering a Palestinian town is a danger to their lives.

The same week as Mr. Ignatius’s column, Israeli children celebrated the Jewish version of Arbor Day by planting trees on an empty West Bank hillside. Sadly, a Palestinian mob began throwing rocks at the children, seriously injuring one. As long as Palestinians attempt to stone Jews to death for the crime of entering an Arab town or planting a tree on a hill, peace will indeed remain an elusive dream.

Stephen M. Flatow, Long Branch, N.J.

The writer is vice president of the Religious Zionists of America and father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995.

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