Allen Z. Hertz http://www.jta.org/user/profile/67432 Now living in South China, Allen was formerly senior advisor in the Privy Council Office serving Canada's Prime Minister and the federal cabinet. Earlier he taught history and law at universities in New York, Montreal, Toronto and Hong Kong. Allen was born in Montreal, where he studied history and languages at McGill University (B.A., 1967). He later did graduate work in East European and Ottoman history at Columbia University (Ph.D., 1973) and subsequently earned law degrees from Cambridge University (LL.B., 1980) and the University of Toronto (LL.M., 1981). His daughters Tamar and Robyn live in Montreal. en-us zsilberman@washingtonjewishweek.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Tom Friedman follows President Obama in talking about a dispute between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab World. This is patently inadequate because Israel's biggest problem is Muslim Iran which is not an Arab country. Moreover, Friedman seems to have some trouble understanding that this is not a dispute about land, but rather over a matter or principle, i.e. the refusal of most Muslims and Arabs to accept the legitimacy and permanence of Israel as a Jewish State, i.e. as the expression of the self-determination of the Jewish People. Friedman also seems to ignore the current reality that the Obama administration is actively seeking to distance itself from Israel, whether or not that change will conduce to peace. The real goal is USA rapprochement with the Muslim World, in which context, Obama sees Israel as a liability. As for Friedman's reference to Israeli settlements, he should recall the words of Winston Churchill who, in 1922, said that "the Jewish People should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on sufferance". It would also be good for Tom Friedman to remember that there have always been large numbers of Jews in the Middle East, including some who ---in each and every century--- lived between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Of all extant Peoples, the Jewish People has the strongest claim to be aboriginal to Israel. Tom Friedman is mistaken in thinking that Israel's moral legitimacy depends on peace with its neighbours. This is a very important point, because the foreseeable future offers little prospect of peace, but a very great need for understanding the moral basis of the Jewish People's continuing presence in its ancient homeland. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The demographic report in this article is of doubtful value because the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is a propaganda agency and not a reliable information source comparable to Statistics Canada or the US Census Bureau. Almost everything connected with the so-called "Palestinians" is largely bogus and principally a function of the ongoing Arab and Muslim war against the Jews. As a general rule, very great caution should be observed in handling concepts or information emanating from so-called "Palestinian" sources. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00