[PAA-Discuss] LTEs needed on Editorial

[Cheryl Crosier]

Please!  will  someone let the Chronicle editors and the readers know 
the ways in which this eidtorial in today's Chronicle is tragically 
misleading and superficial.  I am swamped right now and it takes me 
hours to come up with a coherent response.
-----Cheryl

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7220828.html

Abbas must lead people to peace
Success of talks is up to Palestinians
By MEIR SHLOMO
Consul General of Israel to the Southwest
Sept. 27, 2010, 9:42PM

Shalom Houston. Having assumed my post as consul general of Israel 
only a month ago, I am often asked what my first impression of 
Houston is. Well, you may be surprised to hear that my first 
memorable impression of Houston had to do with nothing less than - 
fear.

As I ventured onto U.S. Highway 59 during rush hour my first day 
here, I could not help but feel a paralyzing fear of the traffic 
around me. While I needed to get home, at that point in time every 
exit seemed like a blessing, regardless where the exit would lead.

Unfortunately, the way the Palestinians are conducting themselves 
during the latest attempt to revive the peace process reminds me of 
my first day of driving in Houston. As soon as they entered the road 
to peace, it looked as if they were already desperately searching for 
an exit.

Almost one year ago, in November 2009, the Israeli government decided 
to implement a 10-month freeze on all new housing construction in the 
settlements, a gesture that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 
rightly called unprecedented. Israel explicitly stated at that time 
that this was a one-time gesture of good will. However, the 
Palestinian Authority swiftly rejected the gesture as "unacceptable," 
refusing to enter peace talks. Now, after wasting nine out of those 
10 months turning a cold shoulder to both the U.S. efforts and 
Israel's good will, the authority is saying this once "unacceptable" 
moratorium is now essential for them even to attend the peace talks, 
the talks that are held precisely in order to discuss issues that are 
in contention by both parties, such as settlements.

The whole logic behind peace talks is to create an opportunity to 
solve differences rather than use the differences to create new 
obstacles. Therefore, the Palestinian threat to leave the peace talks 
is reverse logic as well as unhelpful.

Sure there are different views about settlements between Israel and 
the Arab world, but history has shown that settlements have never 
stood in the way of peace talks before when the parties were serious 
about achieving peace. Peace was accomplished with Egypt and Jordan 
without freezing construction in the settlements. Moreover, the 
Arab-Israeli conflict existed long before any settlement ever did.

Both sides have complaints about the other's actions, but Israel is 
choosing not to use its grievances against the Palestinian Authority 
to threaten a boycott of peace talks. Israel prefers to find 
solutions at the negotiating table, not excuses for walking away from 
it.

In order to achieve this peace, Israel is willing to compromise, but 
it takes two to tango, and peace talks are by no means a one-way 
street. We simply say, let us sit and settle our differences together 
- something that can only happen when both parties are serious about 
it. Israel has proven time and again that when an Arab leader extends 
a hand for peace, Israel always rises to the occasion.

As President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan entered 
courageously the complicated and sometimes dangerous highway to 
peace, so now is President Mahmoud Abbas required to do the same. He 
must brave the paralyzing fear of extremists like Hamas and lead his 
people to their destination, instead of being tempted to find the 
first exit in the form of any pretext that is there.

If President Abbas does so, he will find a willing partner. Israeli 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated publicly, "My goal is not to 
conduct a (peace) process but to complete it."

We can only hope that the Palestinians decide to stay on the highway 
to peace so that both peoples can live together side by side, in 
peace and security, ultimately reaching the true exit, the exit named 
peace.

By the way, I did make it home that first day, and it was well worth the drive.

Shlomo is consul general of Israel to the Southwest.