Dear Editor,

The US has done immeasurable damage to itself and to Israel - not to mention the long-neglected and brutalized Palestinians - by following its morally bankrupt "pro-Israel" policy. Sadly, I don't expect Obama to be any different than any other recent American president when it comes to this issue. The situation is doubly worse in that Obama probably knows better. His knowledge of Middle Eastern history, his exposure to Palestinians, his own experience as a discriminated-against minority, and his political instincts probably are enough to make him realize the complex truth of the situation as well as how much damage the US has done to itself in the Middle East by following such grossly imbalanced policies. But fighting with the Israel lobby and its many supporters is probably not something that Obama is willing to do, at least not yet and probably never. So, this tragic situation will continue to drag out with more and more people (mostly Palestinians) paying in blood as the Israeli political establishment slowly and painfully comes to the conclusion reached by Ehud Olmert - i.e., that Israel has been deeply misguided in its settlement policies and that it has undermined itself in the way in which it has approached the Palestinians. But the US will do nothing to make this inevitable day come closer. It will simply continue to enable the worst elements in Israel, at the expense of its own standing in the rest of the world.

Sincerely,

Shaun Narine

Dear Glenn,

Thanks for another excellent article. As an earlier poster said, you express my views and concerns with far greater eloquence, clarity and authority that I ever could.

The problem of tribalism, on both sides, is very real. It is especially disconcerting to see the extent to which the view that Arabs/Muslims are subhuman has taken hold in the West, and especially (it seems) among the pro-Israel community (both Jews and Christians). As you say, it should not be difficult to understand why people living under 40 years of a grinding occupation would not be driven to despair. The resort to extremism is, under these circumstances, hardly surprising. (Indeed, it's worth bearing in mind that Israel actually supported Hamas in the 1970s and 80s because it saw it as a possible way to undermine the PLO).

I note that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rep. Ackerman, the head of the Congressional Committee on the Middle East, are presently in Israel, offering unqualified support for Israel and blaming Hamas, of course, for every innocent civilian that Israel kills. This tripe may go over well in the US and, perhaps, New York - it is hardly effective in the rest of the world, where Israel's image gets blacker and more irredeemable with every passing day. And, along with it, the image of the US.

In the end, of course, Hamas will emerge from this stronger than ever. It will have martyrs galore, it will be able to point to the merciless butchery of men, women and children as living proof of the savagery and fundamentally evil nature of the Israelis, and it will be regarded as heroic and resolute in much of the Arab world. And, the next time there are free and fair Palestinian elections, it will have an excellent shot at consolidating its political power. All of this is speculation, of course, but it's probably not far off what will happen. The one certainty is that Hamas can't be stopped by guns and bombs. It's an idea and a movement that gains its strength from adversity. One would think that Jewish leaders would understand this fact better than most.

Sincerely,

Shaun Narine

Dear Glenn,

Thanks for posting this interview/discussion. It is certainly hopeful that, finally, some elements of the American media are beginning to speak candidly about the situation in the Occupied Territories and giving some voice to the Palestinian side of this question. I am, however, irritated by Richard Haas' comments. To say that Israel does not have a "partner for peace" is, once again, to ignore all the many things Israel has done to undermine its Palestinian "partners for peace" (as Queen Noor pointed out), all in the name of expanding Jewish settlements. Hamas is the radical - and almost inevitable - response to 40 years of brutal oppression. And Hamas should not be expected to come to the bargaining table with preconditions. It is always amazing to me how much higher the bar is set for the Palestinians in this conflict. Diplomacy means talking to one's enemies and, ultimately, finding common ground on which to build. One does not have to like Hamas to accept that it has a political legitimacy - now greatly enhanced by brutal Israeli actions in Gaza - that the PA lacks. Hamas needs to be at the table. The US had better learn to accept this. As Haas indirectly points out, the moral and political power in this conflict is slowly shifting towards the Palestinians as demographics put Israel into an impossible situation. Hamas is smart enough to realize this. Talk to them now or talk to them later, but they are holding far more cards than the US or Israel want to acknowledge.

Sincerely,

Shaun Narine