[IMC-Editorial] Letter to the Editor on Meeting Between Sharon and Abbas

[The Ayn Rand Institute]

Dear Editor:

This week's meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas will not advance
the prospects for peace in the region.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is not about Jews or land or settlements or
even 2,000 years of history. It is about ideas. The Middle East
conflict is about reason vs. faith, the individual and his rights vs.
the collective, self-defense vs. the initiation of violence, freedom
vs. dictatorship. Which side are you on? I am on the first of each of
these and that is why I support Israel, because it is too. Whatever
its inconsistencies, Israel values the crucial ideas of Western
civilization: reason, rights and freedom. Only when the Palestinians
accept and live by these values will they be worth negotiating with.
Ideas do have meaning--and consequences.

Sincerely,
Scott McConnell, Ayn Rand Institute
2121 Alton Parkway, #250
Irvine, CA  92606
United States
(949) 222-6550 ext. 208

Please let me know if you decide to publish my letter. Thank you.

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