To the Editor:
Any discussion of the Israeli-Arab conflict deals with tough, complex issues, but as rhetoric critical of Israel often does, Professor Jeremy Pressman's recent lecture mentioned only a fraction of the facts at hand ("Professor focuses on Israeli settlements," Oct. 27). Pressman declared, "Settlements are an obstacle to peace." However, an examination of history and the facts on the ground delivers the truth: settlements are not an obstacle to peace.
When Israel finds a willing partner across the negotiating table, peace soon follows. In 1979, Egypt chose peace over war, and Israel single-handedly evacuated thousands of settlers from the Sinai Peninsula. In 2000, Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat the Gaza Strip, over 95 percent of the West Bank, and a capital in East Jerusalem in Abu Dis. The response? An emphatic no and the beginning of the Second Intifada.
Nonetheless, Israel continued in its decades-long pursuit of peace. In 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, evacuating around 10,000 settlers. The coastal enclave became a terrorist proxy state of Iran. In 2008, Ehud Olmert offered Mahmoud Abbas a historic compromise. The Jewish State again received a no and Abbas discontinued talks.
History and facts cannot be denied. Settlements are not an obstacle to peace. The apparent lack of a true partner on the other side of the negotiating table is the obstacle. All of the recent Prime Ministers of Israel have agreed to the principles of a Palestinian state. It's time for Palestinian leaders like Abu Mazen to finally agree to a Jewish one.
