Violence blocking peace deal, not settlements

I read the Dec. 20 Associated Press article and agree that the settlers' behavior in the West Bank is reprehensible and that the Israeli government is remiss in permitting the type of activity described. But to state that “the settlements have emerged as the chief roadblock in Middle East peace efforts” demonstrates either ignorance of past and recent events or actual intentional bias.

The primary impediment to peace has been and continues to be the threat to Israel from the violence of radical Arab elements that has occurred repeatedly since well before the formation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the continuing threat from those elements within Palestinian organizations and their active supporters from elsewhere in the Mideast, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and Hamas.

While the offensive activities in the West Bank should be stopped based on unnecessary and counterproductive civil rights violations of the Palestinians, it is naive to think that simply stopping those activities would lead to peace.

The Israelis know the history all too well, including bombed school buses, a university cafeteria, restaurants, hotel ballrooms, etc. That real violence trumps the offensive activities of the zealot settlers.

Condemnation of the settlers' actions must be accompanied by even more severe condemnation of the horrendous activities of elements among the Arabs that preceded the obnoxious settler movement by 80 years of murderous terrorist activity that continued until construction of the otherwise regrettable security fence.

Miles Weinberger

Iowa City