Canada Palestine Association
P.O.Box 1085
Halifax, NS
B3J 2x1
Tel: 902 429 9100

The Editor,

The Globe and Mail
Toronto

3 October, 2000

Dear Editor:

Harold Brief," One-sided analysis" {Letter, October 3}, is evidently not satisfied with the undeserved praise that Rami Khouri piles on Ehud Barak. He does not expect that "Barak and the Israelis would be willing to make far-reaching concessions without receiving tangible reciprocity from the Palestinians". It is perhaps worth pointing out that the Palestinians are not asking for any concessions from Mr. Barak or the Israelis. The Palestinians are calling for Israel to withdraw from their land illegally occupied by Israel in 1967, so that it may comply with Security Council resolution # 242. They are calling for Israel to allow the Palestinian refugees to practice their right of return to their homes, in compliance with U.N. resolution # 194, passed in December 1948 and reaffirmed over 50 times since then, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These refugees were systematically ethnically cleansed from their homes in 1948 and 1967, as confirmed by many of the Israeli officers who participated in these acts and many Israeli historians who confirmed this brutal process. The Palestinians are asking for the dismantlement of illegally created Jewish settlements on their land, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Security Council resolution.

It is time for Israel to comply with international law and repeated Security Council and U.N general Assembly resolutions. It is time for the U.S. and other governments, including our own, to practice the claim they gloat about, of upholding the U.N. Charter and international legitimacy, by forcing Israel to comply with these U.N. resolutions. This should not be a negotiable issue. Israel cannot remain above international law.

Yours sincerely

Ismail Zayid, MD

President,Canada Palestine Association.