It's the way Palestinians are treated in Israel, stu...

Letter to the Post, #19

I'm beginning to think that this letter, e-mailed a week ago, won't see print, either. It's okay, I'm warming up to write another one anyhow.

Editor,

Jordan Gazit (Letters, July 22) suggests that Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa's reference to "impoverished Palestinians" ("Arabs Need to Talk to the Israelis," op-ed, July 17) is about Palestinians living in the Persian Gulf states, not the 1.3 million Palestinians living in Israel. This seems disingenuous and ignores the fact that the circumstances of life for most Arabs living in Israel are deplorable, especially in regard to poverty, infant mortality, life expectancy and the state of Israel's role in the unequal subsidizing of education, economic development, health care and other services for Jewish and Arab citizens.

Apparently, Gazit would rather focus on how much worse the situation is for Palestinians living in authoritarian Arab states. This sentiment is understandable, but ignores the fact that Israel claims to be a democracy and ought to be judged by standards appropriate to democracies.

Jeff Epton