A distortion of the facts

Nicholas Kristof’s sympathetic column in Friday’s Times, “In Israel, the noble vs. the ugly” [Opinion, July 9], praises an altruistic rabbi. In these tear-jerk pro-Palestinian sympathy stories, Palestinians are never responsible for their own problems. Kristof’s pathetic account is a deceitful distortion because it imputes all blame on Israel. It makes no mention of the cause of the lingering impasse: the 63-year Arab refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist and accept a peace accord.

There should have been peace when Israel was founded in 1948. Instead, Israel’s enemies initiated and lost four wars. War always causes dislocation. An olive tree may end up in someone else’s back yard. Over the same time, 850,000 Jews were expelled from their homes in Arab countries. They have is no prospect of visiting their olive trees. Thank God they have Israel to go to.

I have an idea for Kristof. Each month, 100 Gazans are freely given world-class medical care in Tel Aviv hospitals. Nothing is asked in return. All the while, Hamas keeps Gilad Shalit a prisoner. If Kristof wants to write a sad story, he should write this one.

— Robert Wilkes, Bellevue

Negative comments don’t foster peace and security

The vicious assault on Israel by Nicholas Kristof published in The New York Times the day before, was made worse by The Seattle Times.

Unfortunately, these one-sided, agenda-driven, negative comments do not help to advance the reconciliation of peace and security between Palestinians and Israelis. It only serves to prolong the conflict and not end it.

— Josh Basson, Seattle