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A compliment for Barak

Rachel M. Schorr Berkeley
Thursday November 21, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

The protesters of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Zellerbach Hall Tuesday fail to remember that Barak negotiated with the Palestinian people in good faith and offered them 97 percent of what their representatives requested during the Camp David Peace Accord. Arafat turned this offer down flat. Why? Many have indicated the sticking point was the “right of the return.” However, Dennis Ross, one of the prime negotiators who recently spoke at UC Berkeley, stated that this was not the case. There would be “right of return” for the Palestinians to their own “Palestinian state” and even limited return to Israel. Israel has already absorbed thousands of refugees from all over the world, including those Jews who were expelled from the Arab states. 

I believe the real sticking point is that the Palestinian leadership does not want a separate Palestinian state. Simply put, they want the destruction of the Jewish homeland. If the Palestinians really wanted their own state they would have accepted the offer of a separate state in 1948 when it was first offered. Or they would have accepted the several other offers made to them over the years (including the one at Camp David). The Jewish people have worked hard to develop and nurture their country. My hope is that the Palestinian leadership will go back to the negotiating table and accept an offer such as the one Ehud Barak courageously made to them and work as hard as the Jewish people did to develop and cultivate their own country. 

 

Rachel M. Schorr 

Berkeley