Elie Jarashow (“Conflicted Over The Conflict,” May 3) claims that while “the Palestinian leadership incites violence and hatred … this hatred has been emboldened by the ongoing occupation of more than five decades.” There’s just one problem with this theory: The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Arabs ended more than 20 years ago.
In 1995, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin withdrew Israel’s forces from the areas in Judea-Samaria where 98 percent of the Palestinian Arabs reside. And Israel subsequently withdrew from 100 percent of Gaza. The Palestinians are ruled by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, not Israel. There is no Israeli military governor controlling their lives. They run their own schools, stores, factories, farms, courts, police force, hospitals, labor unions, and elections (when the PA and Hamas permit them). So please, stop blaming a non-existent occupation for “emboldening” terrorism and anti-Semitism. They don’t need any “emboldening.” The Palestinian Arabs have been practicing them for more than a century—long before there was any “occupation,” and throughout the decades since that “occupation” ended.
Long Branch, N.J.
