Published "Letter to the Editor" in Boston Globe 6/7/07
Why Israel must demand peace
June 7, 2007
H.D.S. GREENWAY'S May 29 op-ed "Elusive dreams of peace fade in Mideast"
fails to put the situation there in perspective: If Israel had not held onto
the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for the past 40 years, there
would be no Israel. It most likely would not have survived another war from
the pre-1967 boundaries, which are not defensible.
Israel's desire for peace is earnest and genuine. It withdrew from the Sinai
Peninsula, Southern Lebanon, and most recently, Gaza, only to face increased
hostilities and extreme and ominous threats on its northern and southern
borders. Land for peace has proven to be a chimera. It's time to try peace
for peace. If the Arabs want peace, they must understand that Israel's final
borders will not be those of before 1967, and that Jerusalem will not be
redivided. If the Arabs put down their arms, there would be no more war; if
the Israelis put down their arms, there would be no more Israel.