To the editor:
Re the July 30 editorial, "The Settlements Issue:" even ignoring the inconvenient truth that supporting the Arab demands for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the heart of their own homeland is morally reprehensible, the practical effect of the Obama administration's pressure on Israel is encourage the continued intransigence of the so-called "moderate" leaders of the Palestinian and their refusal to negotiate.
It continues the tradition of inculcating into the Arabs the belief that rejectionism is a no-lose proposition, since we will simply pressure Israel to make even more unreciprocated concessions.
This is bad for Israel, bad for the United States, bad for the prospects for peace and ultimately bad for the Palestinian Arabs themselves.
The two most effective actions we could take to promote an Arab-Israeli peace are to move our embassy to where it belongs, the capital of Israel, and tell the Palestinian Arabs that the longer they reject peace the more Israel will build in the disputed territories - to which they have at least as much if not far more of a legal, moral and historical claim than anyone else - and the less the Arabs will wind up with in the end.
We should start transforming the tradition of Arab rejectionism and intransigence from a no-lose proposition to a no-win proposition.
Sincerely,
Alan Stein