From The New York Times:
To the Editor:A candor, definitely a candor.
Maen Rashid Areikat, a senior Palestinian official, in his July 27 letter rebutting an Op-Ed article that supported Israeli settlements in the West Bank (“Israel’s Settlers Are Here to Stay,” July 26) laments “sixty-four years of a relentless struggle for freedom by Palestinians.”
Let’s see. Sixty-four years ago takes us to 1948, the year of Israel’s birth. But there were no West Bank settlements in 1948. The West Bank was occupied by Jordan and remained so until 1967. So exactly what have the Palestinians been struggling against relentlessly for 64 years?
Whether a welcome moment of candor or a revealing Freudian slip, a Palestinian official has acknowledged what is at the heart of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians: the very existence of the state of Israel.
GREGG M. MASHBERG
New Rochelle, N.Y., July 27, 2012
