Whaha Maha

Maha Nasser had a letter in the New York Times in which she posited that "If all settlements in the West Bank are illegal, then all the illegal settlements must be dismantled" (Letter, March 18). But are they?

Since 1922, the original territory of the Jewish National Home intended by the League of Nations to be reconstituted in Palestine has been whittled away and more importantly, Jews prohibited from even residing in those removed areas. Nasser echoes the demand that all Jewish communities are to be dismantled but Arabs living in the pre-1967 borders of Israel are expected to continue to live just where they are.

Perhaps if these Arab towns and villages were to be referred to as "Arab settlements", we may begin to achieve balance and political equality and then arrangements to redraw boundaries will be more effective and fair.