Talks offer no promise

The recent (Sept. 7) Mona Charen opinion piece on potential failure of the Mideast peace (pun intended) talks due to Arab intransigence, hostilities, prejudice and lack of representation was right on target.

There’s no way a disparate group of terrorists, backed by Iran, ranging from Hezbollah to the north, Hamas to the south and the PLO to the east, can be considered a negotiating “partner” with a democratic, sovereign state whose very existence and legitimacy these Arabs refuse to acknowledge.

Can you imagine the U.S. “negotiating” with al-Qaida or the Taliban following the 9/11 bombings? No way. Maybe Britain and Spain could have shown us how it’s done by meeting with jihadists following the London and Madrid bombings. Probably not. Well, could Russia show us how it’s done by “having talks” with Chechnya rebels? Uh, no, not really. So why the double standard imposed on Israel by Obama and the European Union?

Coinciding with the beginning of the Mideast meetings, four Israeli women, two of whom were pregnant, were murdered in Hebron by Arabs and the grisly deed glorified in their media. End of “discussion”!

Joseph Harari

Spokane