Philip Gerson (“A compassionate search for reality,” July 8) repeats a number of common but erroneous myths about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He describes the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo as being built on “Palestinian land annexed to Jerusalem in 1967.” In fact, as I am sure that Mr. Gerson is aware, the land had been occupied, illegally, by Jordan; there has never been Palestinian sovereignty over any part of the West Bank (or anywhere else). He claims that Palestinian people were “moved from their land” in 1948 as a result of Jewish migration, when in fact the displacement was caused by Arab rejection of the nascent Jewish state and their subsequent attempt to destroy it.
And the source who claims that any Israeli “who does not agree with the government and/or military policy is perceived as a traitor” obviously doesn’t live in the same Israel I know, where many, many loyal citizens oppose various policies and actions of the government. That is the nature, thankfully, of democracy; when enough citizens disagree with enough government policies, they vote that government out of office.
There are many real problems with Israel’s conduct as well as with the Palestinians’. Focusing on imaginary ones, rewriting history, and repeating discredited conspiracy theories will not bring us closer to a solution.