Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Road Rage in a Rut

The New York Times published a story on the troubles on the road for Arabs in Yesha.

Here are three good responses from the Letters' Column:

Your reporter traces a long and frustrating road for Palestinians subjected to Israeli checkpoints and barriers. Perhaps he should have asked some Palestinians waiting in line some important questions:

What would their lives be like today if they had not rejected Bill Clinton’s peace proposal in 2000? Would they be waiting at checkpoints if they had not launched their reign of terror against Israeli civilians?

Where would Palestinians be if they had not elected Hamas? And what if after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, they had concentrated on building a civil society rather than shooting rockets into Israel?

Palestinian suffering is real. But that is not the real story. The real story is how Palestinians themselves have caused this suffering and use it in the concerted drive to delegitimize Israel and eliminate it as a Jewish state.

Gregg M. Mashberg
New Rochelle, N.Y.


To the Editor:

You describe the difficulties facing the residents of the West Bank because of the numerous checkpoints and other security measures taken by the Israeli Army.

It is important to remember that death, contrary to inconvenience and hardship, is irreversible.

The security measures in the West Bank, including the security fence, have saved hundreds of Israeli lives. As soon as the Palestinian war of terror ceases, there will be no need for checkpoints and fences.

Jacob Amir
Jerusalem


To the Editor:

You describe quite well the situation for Palestinians and Israelis needing to travel West Bank highways. I might add that near my home there is a traffic circle with a spoke into a road leading directly into Bethlehem.

As a symbol of Israeli optimism for the “peace process,” the traffic circle was started before and finished shortly after the war began.

The road to Bethlehem is now mostly closed to traffic. I hope that it will be opened one day.

Barry Lynn
Efrat, West Bank

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