Letters to the Editor: Can Israel and Palestinians ever work together to solve decades-long conflict?

To the editor: I am an American Jew, and I appreciate your printing of this article (“My family’s archive shows why Palestinians are owed reparations,” May 13). We all know that terrible mistakes were made back in May 1948 by the British and the U.N., and that many Palestinians were unfairly treated. We, as Jews, having suffered atrocities in Europe, should know better.

I am not at all happy with the current administration in Israel and cringe with shame as to what they are doing in Gaza. On the other hand, the Israelis have suffered untold losses as well at the hands of Palestinians. The lesson here, I believe, is that both sides have to acknowledge wrongdoing, and both sides need to come together and fix it. I realize this may be a pipe dream, but is there any other way out of this morass?

Barbara Busch, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: Guest contributor Adel Bseiso’s familial story is touching and sad. However, it is also incomplete. The Palestinian narration of the Nakba says primarily that the sovereign state of Israel abruptly swept in and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, a planned act of aggression not unlike the Six-Day War in 1967.

What was supposed to occur in 1948 was a United Nations-mandated partition of both Palestinian and Jewish nations. However, a coalition of Arab nations rejected that plan, and would come to lose that gambit and the war.

The possibility of the Palestinians and Arab nations accepting the U.N. partition is a “what if” of Middle Eastern history that for some reason is rarely discussed. In the spirit of widening this discussion, I would be curious whether Bseiso or scholars could return to his family archives — and determine what proportion of land his family would have retained had the partition plan been accepted.

Ron Shinkman, Northridge

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To the editor: Bseiso’s piece about his Palestinian family was anguishing to read. The situation in Gaza is appalling. This should not stand.

Jeri Marston, Los Angeles