From Ruth Tenne
Sir: Douglas Davis's claims that the Palestinians have a hidden agenda to extinguish Israel is based on distorted facts and a cavalier approach to the truth. The fact of the matter is that the illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are the main obstacle to peace. Sharon and his government find it more acceptable (and easier) to clash with the Palestinians than to clash with the settlers. They have not forgotten the vile campaign that culminated in the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli fanatic who was supported by the settlers and their powerful council, Yesha (see Murder in the Name of God by M. Karpin and I. Friedman). Rabin was the only Israeli prime minister who genuinely attempted to implement the Oslo Accords in full, and for that he paid with his life. As an Israeli-born citizen who lived peacefully within the pre-1967 borders, I urge every Jewish person who does not wish to see the total collapse of Israel's democracy to support the full implementation of the roadmap to peace, which endeavours to establish an independent, viable Palestinian
state by 2005, and calls on Israel to withdraw to its pre-1967 borders in accordance with UN resolutions 242 and 338.
Ruth Tenne
London NW6
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