To the editor:
In writing "How Israel Undermined Washington and Stalled the Dream of Palestinian Statehood," Seth Anziska forgets that at the time of the negotiations between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, the Arabs who had left what is now Israel in 1948 were only beginning to assume their new identity as "Palestinians." Not only was it still long-standing American policy that there should not be a separate state in whatever territory Israel gave back to Egypt and Jordan, but the Arab leaders wanted no part of a separate Palestinian Arab state.
Sadat's primary goal was the get back the Sinai; he only paid lip service to the cause of the Palestinian Arabs.
Unfortunately and almost certainly to the chagrin of most Arab leaders, Israel eventually buckled under the relentless, hypocritical pressure it endured. As a result, we today have two de facto Palestinian Arab terror states, ruled by Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in roughly 40 percent of Judea and Samaria. The Arabs living in those areas, whose lives had dramatically improved during the time they were administered by Israel, have suffered immensely and Palestinian terrorism soared, causing thousands of deaths, both Arab and Jewish.
Sincerely,
Alan Stein