Readers Write: Dec. 30

‘World peace organization’ a joke

The U.N. should be supporting Israel. She grants full civil rights to non-Jews, protecting the holy sites of all religions. She has issued proposals for the establishment of a Palestinian state and ceded land. Many groups in Israel promote Israeli/Palestinian coexistence.

Yet, the U.N. condemns Israel, while colluding with the Palestinian leadership to keep its own people (descendants of Arabs who fled the Arab-initiated 1948 war against Israel) in perpetual refugee status. The U.N. doesn’t mind that the Palestinian leadership expects Israel to accept millions of people who have been raised on a constant diet of anti-Jewish invective. The U.N. doesn’t mind that the Palestinian Authority openly announces that the signing of a peace treaty will not end the conflict. It’s OK that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza brought more attacks on Israel and that Mahmoud Abbas condemns any efforts for normalization between Israelis and Palestinians. How low the “world peace organization” has sunken.

TOBY F. BLOCK, ATLANTA

Obama right not to support Israel

President Obama’s decision to abstain and let the latest U.N. Resolution condemning Israeli settlements pass is an early Christmas present. Many of his critics are calling it bad for peace. (“U.S. abstains as U.N. vote blasts Israel,” News, Dec. 24.)

So, I guess Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian land, demolishing thousands of Palestinian homes, uprooting their olive orchards, spraying their homes with sewage, the building of an apartheid wall, the construction of thousands of illegal Jewish settlements, and the daily harassment, collective punishment, unnecessary killings of dozens of Palestinian men, women, and children, and the daily human rights abuses on the Palestinian people is good for peace?

The only criticism that I have on President Obama’s decision to abstain is that I wish he would’ve voted in favor just as all 14 other nations in the UN voted. This unanimous vote should awaken the world.

JAMES J. DAVID, MARIETTA