Editor:
Regarding the article titled “King Abdullah: World would welcome Obama” covering King Abdullah II’s appearance at the Aspen Institute and printed in the July 22 Aspen Daily, there are some points regarding the Israeli/Palestinian issue that I would like to comment on.
It’s very nice that the king said (as is quoted in the article) “I urge this great nation to marshal the international effort to create a … final historic peace settlement and … a new future for Palestinians and Israelis alike” (who wouldn’t find that thought inspiring?).
What’s not so nice is that two paragraphs later in the article, King Abdullah appeases the “radicals” (translate “terrorists”) and puts the blame of the conflict squarely onto Israel by insinuating that “roadblocks and walls ... a Palestinian economy in shambles … fuels the fire ... .”
What I’ve pointed out numerous times in previous letters — and I’ll be happy to reiterate — is that, yes, the roadblocks and fences (not walls) were built at the Israelis’ expense, but the need for them was created by terrorists who over the past years of the second Intifada (more correctly referred to as a terrorist war) inflicted great damage and took 1,000-plus Israeli lives while shattering the lives of countless others.
As to the Palestinian economy being in shambles, again, the Palestinians have no one to blame but themselves. I could give many examples, but an obvious one to look at would be the Israeli pullout from Gaza. Working greenhouses built by the Israelis were left behind and huge sums of money were poured in by well-intentioned philanthropists to keep them going in order to fuel a new Palestinian economy. The Palestinians chose instead to destroy them.
I admire Walter Isaacson’s attempt to tackle and find resolutions for the unfortunate situation between the Israelis and Palestinians. I think that he will find that providing a venue at the Institute for speakers to spread propaganda and continue, unjustly, to point the finger of blame at Israel is providing nothing but a road to further confusion and not peace.
Judy S. Kava
Snowmass Village
