I wrote about Israel and West Jerusalem yesterday, here. Today's International Herald Tribune prints two letters on the same topic:
Regarding Celestine Bohlen’s “Telling Israel no: Obama’s bold move” (Letter from Europe, July 29): The Palestinians are not in any way, shape or form ready to negotiate; they are split in a million pieces. The Palestinian Authority is corrupt and ineffectual; Hamas is terrorizing Gaza’s population; Gaza is hemmed in on all sides by Egypt and Israel; Iran is a mess.
What good does it do to pressure Israel on settlements when the other partner in the conflict is in never-never land?
This has been the story all along. The Palestinians refuse to negotiate seriously; the Israelis take more land. In the end, there won’t be any land to negotiate over.
Andrea Moriah, Jerusalem
James Carroll (“A shared Jerusalem,” Views, July 28) writes that “President Obama has replaced the Bush policy of hands-off with a gloves-off readiness to push all parties hard.”
Can Mr. Carroll point to anything at all that Mr. Obama has done that could be interpreted as pushing the Palestianians?
Tuvia Fogel, Milan
