Letter to The Washington Post

Just got word that this will be published in Saturday’s edition…

Dear Editor,

Andy Shallal shows remarkable ‘memory loss’ in his attack on Israel (Letters, May 13, 2006). Like most Palestinian supporters, he ‘forgets’ that the Palestinian Arabs were offered the West Bank in the UN Partition agreement of 1947, but declined the offer. Hoping to win it all, they and their Arab neighbors attacked the nascent Jewish state of Israel and lost - forfeiting their claim. Ironically, the land that would have been theirs was mostly taken, not by Israel, but by their land grabbing brethren, Egypt and Jordan. It wasn't until 1967 that Israel won the territories. Shallal even errs in arithmetic, claiming that June 1967-May 2006 is "more" than 40 years. By ignoring these facts and making such mistakes, he reveals the true Israel-bashing agenda of his “Arab-Jewish dialogue group”. I suggest that telling the truth would be a better “starting point for finding common ground.”