About the publisher: Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab cracks down on Israel’s “right-wing” government. He regrets that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

Kuttab ignores the blatant fact that while the world recognized Israel in 1948, the Arabs in and around Israel did not and sought to destroy the fledgling Jewish state. To this day, children in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas are taught that all of Israel is illegal.

He also ignores the fact that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat unleashed deadly violent attacks instead of implementing the Oslo law.

agreements agreements

and other peace agreements.

Smotrich gains allies as the Israelis realize that appeasing terrorism has not worked.

Thomas Einstein, Santa Monica.

About the publisher: Kuttab accurately summarized the history of peace initiatives and the latest developments in Israel’s newly formed apartheid government.

While in Beirut in 2009, I visited one of the largest of the many Palestinian refugee camps that had grown into a city within a city since 1948. Palestinians cannot legally work outside the camp or obtain Lebanese citizenship.

Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, has openly stated that there are no people like the Palestinians, and the government has stepped up attacks on towns and villages in the West Bank. Without jobs or hope for the future, Palestinian youth will fight and die for a future Palestinian state.

Israel would do well to consider the possible outcomes.

George Mouro, Rancho Mirage

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About the publisher: There is only one way to solve the Palestinian situation, and it should have started in 1948 with the creation of Israel. An international force must take the place of Israeli security, as in Berlin in 1945.

Second, the billions in US aid to Israel every year must be suspended until all settlements are abandoned and handed over to the displaced Palestinians.

Anyone reading this knows this is the answer, but as long as the inmates are running the facility, it’s not going to happen.

Chuck Heinz, West Hills