Letters to the editor

THE PROMISED LAND

Previous divisions rejected in Middle East support the fence

Editor, The Times:

"A city apart" (Times, News, Feb. 15) focuses entirely on the impact of Israel's security fence on the Palestinians, without making any mention of the conditions that make it necessary — the ongoing terrorism that is a fact of daily life for Israelis.

Rather than try to address the article's many other examples of bias, I will focus on one key misrepresentation. Specifically, the article states "But Israel's war for independence... " In fact, Israel accepted the U.N. partition plan, but her neighbors did not. Thus it was not "Israel's war for independence," but "the Arabs' war to try to destroy Israel."

Sadly, this war continues today; destruction of Israel remains the goal of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.
Andrew Robinson, Bellevue

Bad neighbors, limited options

One wonders, after reading "A city apart," the lengthy wail about "fences and roads that will severely restrict Palestinian access" to Jerusalem, how much more ink will be spilled in the pages of The Times in defense of the Arabs' right to spill blood.

In Robert Frost's New England, people understood the essential soundness of the adage that "Good fences make good neighbors"; and in New England they weren't dealing with neighbors who were bent on murdering everybody who lived next door.

When Jewish schools in Jerusalem can function without armed guards to protect the children inside, just as Arab schools function in Nazareth or Ramallah, there will be no need for fences to keep suicide bombers at home.
Edward Alexander, Seattle

Map of the human hurt

A significant part of "A city apart" is the map of the barrier around Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been fine-tuning this map for decades. The blatant illegality of colonizing Palestinians' area is obvious.

The Christians of Bethlehem and every village and city in the West Bank have a wall separating them from The Church of the Holy Sepulcher and other Jerusalem sites. The Muslims of Ramallah and every village and city in occupied Palestine have a wall separating them from the holy city and her mosques.

In the process of building the wall, many Christian and Muslim properties have been expropriated or destroyed. The mantra of the wall separating children from schools, workers from jobs, farmers from their land, shepherds from their fields, patients from their doctors and dividing families, has become familiar.

Three million Palestinians are denied every human right, allegedly because of a few violent resisters and suicides. Never in human history have the faithful accepted denial of religious freedom, nor has a people accepted denial of basic human rights.

The wall will come down. This barrier to civil, humanitarian, environmental justice and human freedom should be stopped and destroyed, immediately!
Constance Trowbridge, Seattle

TARGETING MARKETS

Aims are true

Critics of Collin Levey's masterful piece on free trade really don't get it ("Exporting Concerns," Northwest Voices, Feb. 16, and "Crying 'wolf' over jobs won't help grandma," guest column, Feb. 12). Free trade is a grand example of people making voluntary choices that people with competing interests believe will further their respective interests.

The reaction of some is demagoguery on stilts, and it is extremely dangerous to the well-being of the people of the United States. The critics just don't get it that different comparative advantages are found in different countries. How sad it is that demagogues want to take the advantage that China or India has — huge populations — out of their quivers. These people seem to be the same ones who trumpet choice, but only in one context, the one having to do with a woman's right to seek an abortion.

The United States should never enact policies that proclaim that we cannot compete with computer programmers in India, to cite one example. The U.S. should never invite ruinous retaliation that flows directly from protectionist policies.
Eric Tronsen, Shoreline

DRIVEN TO EXTREMES

Help off wheels

In response to "States grappling with age issue" (Local News, Feb. 16), about testing older drivers: What makes this such a contentious issue is the fact that in the Puget Sound region, as in the rest of America, loss of a driver's license is akin to a prison sentence. As the baby boomers continue to age, the number of elderly drivers will increase.

The only sensible long-term solution is to offer elderly citizens a range of transportation alternatives — mass transit, walking, biking and van pools. This will require more than a token effort, but rather a reorientation of our community design. We must redesign neighborhoods with people in mind, not just cars. To design communities so that residents can walk from their homes to regular destinations, such as a corner store, library, park or restaurant, we will have to think about things like sidewalks, density of buildings and mixed-use development.

Communities with these types of features promote quality of life for not just the elderly, but for all residents.
Brad Kahn, Seattle

Observe unposted limits

"States grappling with age issue" was finally a public acknowledgement of what all of us already know. The interesting part is that (the accompanying) graph only shows fatal crash rates. Would it look much worse if you showed all crashes by age?

You also mitigate the effect of old-age drivers by stating that they surpass the teenage accident rate only slightly by age 90. However, it is clear that they surpass the vast majority of adult drivers by the mid-70s. This is far more relevant.

I was also less than shocked to see the Legislature's usual lack of courage when addressing a serious public-safety issue versus elder votes.
Rod Xuereb, Bellevue

License to kill time

Let us not penalize older drivers for the actions of a few. If we do, then everybody should be tested every two years. Think of the jobs and revenue it would create!
Cynthia Volkmann, SeaTac

AUTOPIA

Cross the double line

If scientists were able to clone babies with an ounce of common sense, I would be all for it.

It would be a wonderful world if all of us drivers kept our vehicles well-maintained, stayed within the speed limit, did not tailgate and slowed down in bad weather.
Dick Hughes, Enumclaw