Peace and justice
I recently visited Israel and the West Bank under the auspices of J Street, the pro-Israel, pro-peace group which has argued that Americans — and Obama — should support a two-state solution more energetically.
We were gratified to learn that many top officials — Israelis and Palestinians — agree. Far from telling us to keep our opinions to ourselves, we were told time and again by politicians as well as human rights advocates that “everyone” knows what the outlines of a deal will be, but that they need help getting to “Yes.” In Ramallah, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told us that the first principle of a two-state deal will be both sides’ unequivocal acceptance of each other’s existence. Who can quarrel with this? J Street should be commended for reaching out to those who truly want both peace and justice.
Alicia Ostriker
Princeton
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