To the editor:
Do James Klutznick and Debra DeLee really believe that the presence of what's still a relative handful of Jews in the disputed territories, almost all within established communities which would remain with Israel under any conceivable peace agreement, would prevent a peace agreement if the Palestinian Arabs were actually interested in one?
Conclusive proof may be found in the fact that Mahmoud Abbas has assiduously avoided serious negotiations since walking away after being offered the equivalent of all that territory nearly a decade ago. Were the so-called "settlements" really a problem, he'd be rushing to come to an agreement as fast as he could.
Let's face it. There are probably fewer Jews in those areas than there would have been had Egypt and Jordan not ethnically cleansed them after rejecting the United Nations Partition Plan and conquering them nearly seven decades ago. Should anyone, including Klutznick, DeLee and President Obama, be implicitly endorsing that ethnic cleansing?
Sincerely,
Alan Stein