Letters to the editor

A candle in Canaan

Israel turns 60: All she wants is the Golden Rule

Editor, The Times:

"2 groups will mark Israel's 60th anniversary for different reasons" [Times, News, May 7], depicting the state of Israel as having been created as a result of Palestinian privation, represents an undercurrent of thought meant to challenge her right to exist.

But Jews have lived on the land of Israel for thousands of years, and are not simply there as a result of immigration after the Holocaust. Jews who migrated there prior to the war did so, as did many of the Palestinians, while it was under the control of empires. Israel was not built on confiscated land. Land was purchased, set aside by the United Nations, and some of it was taken in a war not of Israel's making.

Israel's creation is very much akin to the creation of many countries also formed as the great empires collapsed. Today, nearly 7 million people live within her borders.

In celebrating Israel's 60th birthday, I look forward to a time when the Jewish state will be at peace. We will reach that point only when people stop questioning the right of Israel to exist and instead focus on how the different peoples in that region can accept the biblical dictum common to each tradition: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

— Rabbi Jonathan Singer, Temple Beth Am, Seattle

Flames overblown

Israel's population is 7.3 million: 5.5 million (75.5 percent) are Jews, 1.46 million are Arabs. The population is expected to reach 10 million by 2030, at the same ratio of Jews to Arabs.

There were 2.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) in 2004. Israel's Jewish majority west of the Jordan River has remained remarkably constant since 1967.

Today, Jews make up a 3:2 majority over Arabs in Israel, Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Jews comprise 67 percent of the population of Israel including Judea and Samaria, and nearly 80 percent of the population outside the Palestinian Authority, or hamasstan (Gaza), areas.

The Arab demographic time bomb is a fiction.

— Mitchell Wyle, Bellevue

A peace forsaken

University of Washington professor of international studies and Mideast expert Joel Migdal's assertion is astonishing: The establishment of Israel "foreclosed the possibility of them [Palestinian Arabs] getting some control over their own lives"?

Let us recall that when the U.N. proposed a Jewish state on some 3 percent of the area of the original British Mandate for Palestine, the Arabs rejected the proposal and launched a war against the nascent Jewish state. The partition plan gave the Palestinian Arabs an unprecedented opportunity to create yet another Arab state; they chose war instead.

Fast-forward to 2000. At [peace negotiations at] Camp David, Israel offered to the Palestinian Authority virtually the entire "West Bank" as well as supplemental territory from the Negev upon which to build a state. However, master con man and arch terrorist Yasser Arafat rejected the proposal, preferring to launch sustained terror attacks against Israel.

And then, when Israel completely retreated from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Palestinian Arabs had a chance to show the world they desire and are capable of building a state. Instead of taking advantage of this golden opportunity, they started launching rockets at Israel, elected an extremist Islamist government, and devolved Gaza into utter lawlessness and internecine barbarity that continues to this day.

For a UW professor to suggest that the Palestinian Arabs have not had any control over their lives since the establishment of Israel is sheer folly.

— Gabriel Scherzer, Bellevue

The biggest gift

It is important for the American public to know that the people of both Israel and Palestine want peace! The people in the street are not so concerned as to the fine details politicians use to block same. They want to live in peace.

The Israelis want to live without the fear of suicide bombers and rockets. The Palestinians want some freedom from the severe restrictions imposed by Israel, thus enabling them to build their economy, in so doing, providing job opportunities for the thousands of young men with nothing to do and no future. A hopeless situation.

If the U.S. media were to emphasize this view and not just report on the negative, more understanding would be forthcoming from the American public to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace. This, too, would improve the world's view of U.S.

— Jean Knight, Mercer Island

Hammered home

Nailed owner

"Town home divide" [page one, April 30], about the confusion the new construction of tiny homes is causing, needs further examination.

The article points out that a great many taxpayers are upset with the effects these new building are causing. I know because the neighbor's dog brought one home the other day and buried it in their backyard and no one could find it.

This dilemma reminded me of the words of that great Yankee philosopher, Yogi Berra: "When you come to a fork in the road, stop and look for a matching spoon." These new buildings are sure to cause problems for old established neighborhoods.

When you allow real-estate developers to put eight houses on a lot where former zoning laws would allow only one, you create terrible traffic problems for commuters. From my former home in Edmonds, it now takes longer to get downtown than it took Charles Lindbergh to reach Paris in 1927.

The streets around these crowded tenements have chuckholes bigger than craters on the moon. Who is going to pay for these street repairs and the new sidewalks a clean, decent neighborhood needs? Who will cover the costs of new school construction which the added children will bring? Not the builders — but the neighbors will pay with higher taxes.

I wonder how these new developers are able to get a city to change its zoning codes to allow multiple dwellings where formerly only single dwellings were allowed. Could it be they have more influence with city governments than the old established neighbors have? Do you think their contributions to incumbents at election time result in zoning-law changes and quick issue of building permits? Did Dorothy wear red shoes?

Whether more of these midget mansions are allowed or not, one thing is sure: Taxes are sure to skyrocket right along with contractors' assets.

— Harry Foster, Freeland

Twisting history

Bluster's last stand

Sen. Hillary Clinton's pronouncement following her 1.7-percent win in Indiana, "Full speed to the White House" ["Clinton declares victory in Indiana," News, May 6] sounded like Gen. Custer at Little Big Horn rallying his troops with the battle cry, "Take no prisoners."

You have to love a fighting spirit but a better plan maybe could have avoided a battle taking place at all.

— Ed Chrisman, Sequim

Might make Wright

Probably the greatest irony of my lifetime (61-plus years) is that the first African-American candidate with a legitimate chance of becoming president has received the greatest blow to his candidacy from no less than an African-American minister who claims to be battling racism.

Should Barack Obama fail to get elected, Rev. Jeremiah Wright will still be able to claim racism is the reason. Wright can then go on spewing his venom and extend his 15 minutes of fame a little longer, including whatever lucrative book offers or other financial benefits this might bring.

The reverend needs to heed the words of Martin Luther King and look at "the content of his heart," when evaluating the motives for his recent ongoing words and actions.

— Raymond Wilson, Bellevue

Remission accomplished

The mistakes and missteps of George W. Bush and his administration over the past seven years are legion (full disclosure: I voted for the man ... uhhh ... twice).

I cannot think of one positive accomplishment, either domestic or international, for which George Bush will be lauded in times to come. The blunders of these past two administrations also will make it highly unlikely that another Republican will be elected in November.

It is therefore very probable Bush will be replaced by a female or a black president. In either case, this will be a notable event of huge historical significance in our two-century succession of America's presidents. As a result, Bush will be able to take credit for paving the way for our first nonwhite or non-male president. That will be his legacy.

— Erwin Molnar, Bellevue