Letters: Palestinians, 50 Years Later
These reader responses were published in the May 12 AJT; send your letters to editor@atljewishtimes.com.
Arabs to Blame for Palestinian Plight
I read with chagrin the statement in the article about how much Atlanta’s Arabs and Jews have in common (“Atlanta’s Arabs, Jews Share So Much,” April 21) that “Jews cannot see the disaster that Israel’s creation has caused on my people.”
The statement in and of itself is a total misplacement of issues. Had the five surrounding Arab nations accepted Israel and the new Arab nation that was also created, there would be no refugees. Every refugee would still have the option to live on the land on which he/she lived in 1948 — or the land on which his or her ancestors lived — and be part of a democracy.
The Arabs created the harm to themselves by refusing to recognize Jews’ historic ties to the Holy Land and choosing to waste countless billions of dollars in futile efforts to destroy Israel.
It is the Arabs who blame the Jews and Israel for all their world’s wrongs when, in reality, it is their own corrupt governments and intra-Arab wars that are the real enemies. It is the Arabs who still refuse to grant citizenship to the refugees and instead use them as tools to incite hatred and fuel terror.
The time has come for the rest of the world to tell the Arabs: “Enough is enough. Israel is here to stay and is not the reason for the Palestinians’ plight and your own. The reason for the unemployment, poverty, shortage of water and electricity, etc., lies solely on the shoulders of your own governments, who refuse to give up power and deny you the opportunity for strong economic ties with Israel.”
That is the root and route to peace in the Middle East and a better life for Arabs and Jews.
— Nathan Salant, Hoover, Ala.
50 Years Later
I was so surprised (shocked might be a better word) that you printed my engagement announcement from 50 years ago. Do you think that people will figure out how old I am?
I am sure you will be thrilled to know that my friends actually read the four lines in your newspaper, and Rabbi Lisa Gelber from the Epstein School posted it on Facebook. But, most of all, thank you because my son, Dov Wilker, the executive director of American Jewish Committee in Atlanta, is very proud of his mom because she got her name into your newspaper. I feel like a big shot.
— Simone Wilker, Washington Township, N.J.
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