Sir, – Frank McDonald’s article (Opinion, August 3rd) labels the newly resumed Israel-Palestinian peace talks “an exercise in deceit”. It is most disappointing that Frank McDonald chooses to denounce the current peace talks without any pause for thought that they might actually succeed.
Personally, I believe any negotiations that may bring about a peaceful future for both Israelis and Palestinians should be welcomed. As the Northern Ireland peace process has clearly illustrated, the core principles of parity of esteem and mutual respect are essential to any peace negotiations. If Mr McDonald is so anxious to seek evidence of deceit, he should seek it impartially on both sides. A leading example is the double-talk of Palestinian spokespersons that tells Westerners they want a state coexisting with Israel while telling their own people that the real goal is all of historic Palestine “from the river to the sea”.
Two years ago, Nabil Shaath, the senior Fatah official and confidant of Palestinian Authority President Abbas, visited Ireland and assured his listeners that Palestinians sought only the West Bank and Gaza for a state. A few weeks later, he declared in Arabic on Lebanese TV that Fatah would never accept the solution of “two states for two peoples”.
Your correspondent mentions “facts on the ground” by way of indicting Israel. How about a few more? Jerusalem was a Jewish-majority city as far back as 1863. Under Arab occupation between 1948 and 1967, not a single Jew was allowed to live or worship in the Old City, the area most sacred to Jews. Contrast that with the position since, when all religions worship freely there. There is no entity called “East Jerusalem”, only eastern areas with dense Arab habitation which will be on the table in these negotiations.
Finally, it might establish some further context to mention that, since 1947, three previous offers of statehood, the last two offering 95-100 per cent of the West Bank including land swaps from Israel and a capital in eastern Jerusalem, were rejected by the Palestinian leadership. – Yours, etc,
NURIT TINARI-MODAI,
Deputy Ambassador of
Israel,
Pembroke Road,
Dublin 4.