Letter: Israel settlements cause for hostility

Monday, April 22, 2002 | 8:51 a.m.

As Libby Werthan wrote in her commentary in the April 14 Sun, "A living hell," we Americans should know as much as possible about the Middle East, including its history and both sides of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

If one looks closely at recent events, however, it is clear that although the spirit of Oslo was to move toward a lasting peace, Israel has figuratively thumbed its nose at that accord repeatedly by building settlements -- with armed settlers backed by bulldozers -- in areas that are theoretically Palestinian, West Bank and Gaza, hence creating the concept of occupied territories, with tacit approval of the United States, its chief arms supplier, all in the name of self-defense and anti-terrorism. There never has been a no-strings-attached land agreement for the Palestinian homeland, contrary to popular belief.

When people are backed against a wall, what society gets is desperate people; had there been no resolution, through civil rights legislation, of the treatment of Native Americans and blacks in our own country, we too might be dealing with suicide bombers.

It is our mandate, as the world's most powerful country, economically, militarily, to assert equally powerful, no-nonsense diplomatic skills and to implement dialogue and compromise in order to bring the current horror to an end.

JOHN ESPERIAN