For Peace, Abbas Must Reverse Arafat’s Policies

Re “PLO Leader Says Attacks ‘Should Stop,’ ” Dec. 15: When I read that current Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas calls the current violence against Israeli civilians a mistake and asks for it to end, when he apologizes to Kuwait for backing Iraq in its murderous war against Kuwaiti civilians, when he asks for money and promises financial transparency and accountability, when he asks the Palestinian media to refrain from spewing its daily vituperations and lies against Jews in general and Israel in particular, when he does all of these things, he is really trying to reverse the disastrous damage that Yasser Arafat has done to his people.

These were all policies of Arafat. Currently, the Palestinian people view Arafat as their George Washington. Hopefully someday they and the rest of the world will come to admit that Arafat’s decades in power were an unmitigated disaster for the Palestinians, Israel and everyone else who came into contact with him other than his cronies, whom he enriched.

Joseph Gold

Torrance

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In his Dec. 15 commentary, “The Mideast’s Second Chance,” Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. wrote, “We can help by funding highly visible projects -- such as building hospitals and schools.” With all due respect to Biden, this is more of the same. We have built the buildings before; they have been destroyed again. If we provide funding to the Palestinians, we need to fund the teachers, doctors and social workers that provide services to the people. Hamas is providing the teachers, doctors and social workers. Should we give them a second chance?

Shayna Letter

Boca Raton, Fla.

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Biden suggests that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is sincere when he claims to be ready for peace and “painful compromises.”

If Biden is truly interested in promoting peace, he and his colleagues in Congress should stop approving the many one-sided resolutions supporting Israel and the billions in aid that give Sharon a blank check to do whatever he wants.

Ken Galal

San Francisco