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“PAW’s story on Professor Dan Kurtzer profiles a reasonable
man and expert diplomat. His proposed Israel-
Palestine peace plan, though, reads like more ‘deal’
than ‘peace.’” — Ken Scudder ’63
The quest for Mideast peace
Griff Witte ’00’s interesting and readable
profile of Professor Dan Kurtzer
(cover story, April 4) refers in passing to
“the ancient conflicts of the Middle
East.” But there is nothing ancient
about the Israeli military occupation of
Palestinian territories, which began in
1967.
Witte’s article recapitulates the two
implicit assumptions that inform
mainstream U.S. discourse about the
Israel-Palestine “conflict”: that it is an
armed struggle between two equally
powerful sides, and that the United
States is a neutral third party. But by
every measure, the overwhelming preponderance
of force is on the side of
Israeli military occupation. The occupation
is a matter of consistent, longterm
Israeli policy, as are the new
settlements that continue to arise in
the Palestinian territories.
The magic moment of the article in
which “hundreds of thousands of
Israelis living in West Bank settlements
suddenly are inside Israel proper as
areas outside the 1967 boundaries are
absorbed” (ta-da!) reads especially
transparently in light of these longterm
policies. Like the much-vaunted
Reunions 2012 @ PAW ONLINE
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“withdrawal” from the Gaza Strip,
which continues to suffer catastrophically
from Israeli blockade and military
offensives, this familiar “deal” sounds
more like a stratagem for further
colonization.
More importantly, however, continued
occupation and settlement would
be impossible without enormous U.S.
military aid to Israel. The United States
is a party to this conflict, and Americans
can stop it, not by waiting for
Barack Obama to “[help] the Israelis
and Palestinians cut a deal,” but by placing
pressure on our own government
to end its support for Israel’s belligerent
actions. To find “a part of the world
where reason is often in short supply,”
we need look no further than our own
State Department.
JACOB DENZ ’10
Brooklyn, N.Y.
I really enjoyed the article on Daniel
Kurtzer. One issue I would have liked
him to address is the money U.S. taxpayers
spend to keep the peace. We pay
billions to Egypt to keep them from
invading Israel, and we pay billions to
Israel to help them deter others from
attacking. What does the ambassador
think would happen if we stopped all
Editors will choose the funniest, most sentimental,
and most creative images from
Reunions 2012 to run in the July issue and
at PAW Online, and Facebook users will have
the chance to vote for our
readers-choice prize, given
to the photo that receives
the most “likes.” A video
gallery also will be available
at paw.princeton.edu.
BUZZ BOX
Atributetothelegacies
of two Princeton ‘giants’
Every story, letter, and memorial at
paw.princeton.edu offers a chance to comment
In his April 4 Rally
’Round the Cannon
column at
PAW Online,
Gregg Lange ’70
described the parallels
in the stories
of two “giants of
Princeton volunteerism”:
Dean
Mathey 1912,
photo at top right,
and Jay Sherrerd
’52, below. The column
struck a
chord with alumni
readers.
“A spectacular tribute to two champions,”
POSS PARHAM ’52 wrote. “Jay
received the Class of 1952 Special Service
Award in 2002 that expressed our
thanks for, among many other things,
‘what must be one of the greatest legacies
of service to Princeton of all times.’
Our gratitude will continue forever.”
JEAN HENDRY *80 commented: “Thanks
so much for bringing Sherrerd and
Mathey to life for those of us not fortunate
enough to have known them.”
“Gregg Lange has an uncanny gift
for telling stories in an exceedingly
entertaining way,” wrote HENRY VON
KOHORN ’66. “Locomotives by the score
for Sherrerd, Mathey ... and Lange.”
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paw.princeton.edu • May 16, 2012 Princeton Alumni Weekly
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PHOTOS: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES;
COURTESY ANNE SHERRERD *87