In a Dec. 21 letter responding to an earlier one from John Holman, Harry Goldin says Holman did not portray an accurate picture of the reality of Israel today.
In a brief letter to the editor, it is impossible to fully represent what is happening between the Palestinians and the Israelis. It is very easy to cherry-pick the data to support one's point of view. So, in this case, I would cite sources of unimpeachable authenticity.
David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, accurately captured the primary cause of this conflict. In his own words: "If I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, it's true, but 2,000 years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: "¦ We have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"
This, I believe, is where the discussion should start. Pro/con responses welcomed at firstname.lastname@example.org.