Palestinians

I disagree with Ariel Ilan Roth's op-ed "U.S. is Wrong on Palestine" (Sept. 21). I will make a purely legal argument why the U.S. should veto Palestine's unilateral attempt for statehood in the United Nations. The following information is from the European Coalition for Israel's research document titled "Foundations of the International Legal Rights of the Jewish People and the State of Israel" and video documentary, which includes commentary from Dore Gold, Howard Grief, and Jacques Gauthier.

The Sun reports ("Bid for statehood may end; Possible deal delays U.N. debate, retains aid to Palestinians," September 21) that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "decided to approach the U.N. this year [for statehood recognition] because of his frustration that after nearly two decades of U.S.-led negotiations, the long-promised separate Palestinian state had not materialized. " That's one way of putting it, but it's Palestinian spin. It's Palestinian rejectionism that has frustrated U.S. diplomacy.

Israel and the Palestinians are on a collision course this week, as the government of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas prepares to unilaterally seek United Nations recognition of an independent Palestinian state. If Mr. Abbas goes through with his plan, it would force the U.S. to use its veto on the Security Council to block the proposal, which it has promised to do - but which would also leave it in a far weaker position to influence events in the region. U.S. officials are desperately hoping to avoid such an outcome, but at this point the best they may be able to do is limit the damage.

In September, the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas plans to bring a statehood petition to the United Nations. The initial plan is to bring it to the Security Council for approval. If the U.S. vetoes it, as expected, the PA will then bring it to the U.N. General Assembly, where it hopes to mobilize a vast majority to support a Palestinian state along the pre-1967-war boundaries, with East Jerusalem as its capital. While such a ploy would not give the PA formal U.N. membership, it would legitimize PA state-building efforts and put Israel on the defensive.

It is reported that 81 Congress members, and their spouses, are being given an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel. This trip is afforded to most (all?) newly elected politicians in order to indoctrinate them into the Israeli viewpoint. I am told that my Congressman, Elijah Cummings, is not going on this trip, for which I thank him. However, Steny Hoyer is going, even though he has been many times. Congress has given Israel billions of dollars in military aid over the years, even though Israel's military is already one of the most powerful in the world and it has threatened not only the Palestinians but neighboring countries as well.

The Quartet for Middle East peace met in Washington last week, and after the meeting a senior U.S. administration official said, "there are still gaps [between the Israelis and Palestinians]," and "more work needs to be done. " A new path to peace and better lives for Israelis and Palestinians are desperately needed, and the pro-democracy movements sweeping across the Middle East point the way. A key lesson of the Arab Spring - that everyday people can and must play a critical role to achieve fundamental change in the Middle East - also applies to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Your Maryland Politics blog "Cardin: Obama should seek authority on Libya" (June 27) describes a speech that Sen. Ben Cardin gave to the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs Monday evening. Senator Cardin spent most of his speech praising Israel and saying that Israel is always right and must be supported more strongly by the U.S., meaning that American taxpayers should send billions more dollars to Israel. Yet Mr. Cardin failed to mention that Israel has been brutally occupying and oppressing the Palestinians for over 40 years, engaging in land and water theft, home demolitions, mass arrests including torture, targeted assassinations, hundreds of humiliating road blocks and check points, and daily settler violence including the murder of unarmed Palestinians.

Gerald Otten and others appear to have forgotten the history of the Middle East ("The United Nations created a Jewish state; it can also create a Palestinian one," May 31). The United Nations did act on Palestinian statehood in 1947; two states were created by the declaration. However, the so-called Palestinians rejected their statehood by attacking the Jewish state alongside the surrounding Arab states, and afterward by choosing to live on UN handouts in refugee camps instead of creating their own state in the territories they possessed.

I read with interest Rabbi Chaim Landau's comment on the possibility that the United Nations could recognize a Palestinian state in September ("Mr. Obama, don't equate Israel with its enemies," May 27). In 1948, the state of Israel was created by the United Nations; Israel had not existed for 2,000 years prior to then. Yet although land was taken from the Palestinians to create Israel, the Palestinians have never been compensated for their loss, nor have they or their descendants been granted any right of return to their ancestral homeland.

The recent article on President Obama's interactions with Israel ("Obama sticks to Mideast vision, seeks to calm Israel," May 22) demonstrates how flawed U.S. foreign policy is because of our politicians are always pandering to Israel and its powerful pro-Israel lobby. The U.S. gives Israel $3 billion in military aid every year, our latest weapons technology and our uncritical political support at the U.N. and elsewhere, yet our president has to "soothe Israeli fury over his stance that peace talks should start on the basis of Israel's 1967 borders.