Frustration is misdirected

This letter was sent to The Connecticut Post in response to an article published there November 16. It was published November 27.

The article in The Connecticut Post was an abridged version of an Associated Press article by Mark Lavie which may be found on the WFSB web site.

The letter may also be viewed on The Connecticut Post web site. (One needs to scroll down since there are other letters on the same page.)

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I found it interesting to read the article "Frustrated Palestinians to appeal to U.N. for state," published Nov. 16, since the only reason they don't yet have another state, along with the existing Palestinian Arab state of Jordan, is that they keep refusing offers to establish one.

Their most recent refusals came in 2000, when Yasser Arafat chose to launch a terror offensive rather than accept the overly generous offer by Israel that they establish a state on virtually all the disputed territories, including parts of Jerusalem, and then again when his supposedly "moderate" successor, Mahmoud Abbas, turned down a similarly generous proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

And now Mahmoud Abbas, also know by his nom de guerre, Abu Mazen, refuses to even talk to the Israeli government, even though the prime focus of negotiations have always been on Israeli concessions to the Palestinian Arabs.

Were I a Palestinian Arab, I would indeed be frustrated, but my frustration wouldn't be directed at either the United States or Israel; my frustration would be directed at my own leadership for insisting on perpetuating a conflict and forcing so many of my brethren to live in refugee camps for so many years.

Alan H. Stein
President
PRIMER: Connecticut Promoting Responsibility in Middle East Reporting