My letter to the NYTimes RE “The Many Mideast Solutions,” by Thomas L. Friedman & the letter by J Street's President Jeremy Ben Ami "The Only Mideast Solution: Two States"

Dove of Peace, presented by Pope John Paul II, on the occasion of his visit to the United Nations, 2 October 1979. The mosaic is a copy of one that was executed in the Constantinian Basilica during the pontificate of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216). The enamels were made in 1727, the frame, made in 1796, is of gilt bronze.

RE “The Many Mideast Solutions,” Thomas L. Friedman & the letter by J Street's President Jeremy Ben Ami "The Only Mideast Solution: Two States"

Dear Editor,

Ban Ki-Moon wrote an excellent op-ed "Don't shoot the Messenger, Israel" that the New York Times published 1-31-16. It is certainly not as titillating as Friedman's recent 2-11-16 column, but unlike Friedman with his zingy cliches, Ban Ki Moon's focus is totally on the men, women and children suffering horribly and endlessly because of the Israel/Palestine conflict... and his focus is on finding a way to stop the suffering.  Thus Ban Ki Moon rightly points out the crucial fact: "Keeping another people under indefinite occupation undermines the security and the future of both Israelis and Palestinians."

I hope and I pray, for everyone's sake, that the Israel/Palestine conflict ends soon. How to get from here to there is quite a quandary. It is all too easy for both insiders and outsiders to stoke the conflict, to incentivize cynicism, extremism, hate mongering and despair on every side.  I have to wonder if America's civil war would have been able to end in today's world with our internet connected globe full of social media activists and myopic opinionators eager to galvanize outrage and scorn. 

 J Street's recent letter calling for support for a two state solution is clearly motivated by a desire for Israel to be Jewish.  I can't admire that motivation for several reasons, but I can respect and totally agree with their call for support for a two state solution.  I believe with every fiber of my being that a fully secular two state solution where religion is officially a personal private matter is the best way forward.  No human being should be persecuted, oppressed and/or displaced because of their religion, or because of their lack of religion, and tax payers should not be funding (and empowering) religious scholars and schemes.

Golden Rule thinking helped write The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the wake of the horrors of the Holocaust. Golden Rule thinking is needed to help end the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Notes