Peacemaking Between Israelis and Arabs

The Opinion page article "Right of Return - An Unavoidable Issue," Aug. 24, misses a number of fundamental points.

Passed during a lull in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948 envisioned a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In referring to refugees who would "live at peace with their neighbors," the drafters did not anticipate 44 years of Arab-state warfare, Palestinian terrorist attacks, and general Arab rejection of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state in the Middle East.

Equally significant is that all parties to the current Arab-Israeli negotiations have agreed that UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 are the operative resolutions for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Let's look forward, not backward. Forty-four years of history have rendered Resolution 194 obsolete. Bluma Zuckerbrot, New York Director, Middle Eastern Affairs Anti-Defamation League

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