Getting there together
Kudos for publishing “Without two states, time is running out” (Opinion, March 17). There is a need to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the sake of Israel and the Palestinians, but none of the presidential candidates can solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and force Israel to end the occupation.
I just came back from the AIPAC policy conference and seeing what the world sees on TV: Israel fighting a very different war, the aim of which is to extend its eastern border by building settlements (which I visited in January) and preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state. To me it’s an unjust war because it violates the Palestinian right to self-determination, a fundamental diplomatic and legal principle on which international order is built. So this means the only path is for the Palestinians to take action to pursue recognition by the United Nations with European and international support. The current wave of violence came as no surprise. The fact that it erupted in “united” Jerusalem, a microcosm of the Jewish-Arab onestate reality, is proof of the explosive nature of the binational state to which the Israeli government is headed. The creation of a Palestinian state and the end of the injustices of the Israeli occupation could have prevented this violence.
The 50th anniversary of the Six Day War — June 6, 2017 — should be the deadline for stopping the occupation and achieving Palestinian independence. We can’t persist with living by the sword. Negotiations are not working. I am optimistic, but my optimism is tinged with great pain and sadness. The goal should not be to just separate from the Palestinians, but to get there together, if possible, on good terms.
Phyllis Bernstein
Westfield
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