Time for Israel's Neighbors to Start Loving Their Children

The Hour, in Norwalk, Connecticut, published several hateful and misleading letters and op-eds written by Scott Kimich. These elicited responses from saner minds.

I sent The Hour the following letter in response to a letter published March 2, but The Hour decided to end the debate and it was not published.

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I must congratulate Scott Kimich for his latest anti-Israel diatribe, published May 2. He has accurately quoted a number of "new historians" who have proven themselves more interested in rewriting history than in accurately portraying it.

Like so many of those who lambast Israel, they show no compulsion about accusing that liberal democracy of the crimes of its enemies.

Before the reestablishment of Israel, the Zionists agreed to every proposal for sharing their historic homeland, accepting repeated partitions while each proposal was rejected by the Arabs. The pattern has continued for the six decades since six Arab armies invaded Israel on the very day David Ben Gurion declared Israel's independence.

In the last decade, Israel has at least twice proposed the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state in all or virtually all of the disputed territories and even offered to divide its own capital.

The first time, in 2000, Yasser Arafat not only rejected statehood but launched a terrorist offensive that has cost the lives of thousands of Arabs and Israelis.

The most recent time, in 2008, the supposedly "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas also rejected the offer and now refuses to even negotiate directly with Israel. He has also continued the incitement that was institutionalized under Arafat.

Just two months ago, the Palestinian Authority announced "The El-Bireh Municipality has completed construction work at the Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi Square," honoring the commander of the infamous "Coastal Road Massacre."

This is the sad reality with which Israel must deal as it waits for the Palestinian Arabs, along with the dozens of neighboring Arab and Muslim states, to accept its existence as a liberal, Western-oriented democracy in their midst.

Amazingly, both the people and leaders of Israel retain their willingness to make enormous concessions in the cause of a peace that will only come when, as Golda Meir sagely recognized, when its neighbors begin to love their children more than they want to destroy Israel.