Letters to the Editor: Trump was right not to include Palestinian leaders in crafting a peace plan

To the editor: In dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and President Trump’s recently unveiled proposal, it’s important to understand the Palestinian side.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator at the 2008 talks mediated by the Bush administration, said he was astonished that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refused to accept Israel’s offer of returning almost 100% of the West Bank plus 20 square kilometers beyond the 1967 boundaries.

The Palestinians have consistently rejected every plan for a two-state solution, and the reason is very clear: Despite their putative requests for a such a deal, what they really want is a one-state solution, a fact that is clear if you read Palestinian textbooks or watch Palestinian television. They don’t want an Israel to exist side by side with a Palestinian state. They don’t want an Israel at all.

No wonder they weren’t invited to work on the White House peace proposal. No wonder Israel now makes unilateral decisions.

Jack Salem, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Trump’s peace plan is ridiculous. Jerusalem is a red line, the beating heart of the Arab, Muslim and Christian worlds, and the embodiment of the Palestinians’ yearnings, dreams and rights since the prophet Muhammad led all the prophets in prayer at the Al Aqsa mosque.

Now, Trump has declared Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel, and Israel is abolishing the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their ancestral homeland and asserting its sovereignty over illegally occupied territories. This is not a recipe for peace, but rather for murder and mayhem.

As King Abdullah II of Jordan eloquently put it, Jerusalem is not “subject to negotiation.”

Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London