Can Jerusalem Provide Peace Solutions?

The author of the Opinion page article"United Jerusalem - a Catalyst for Peace," June 24, deserves to be commended for favoring reconciliation and healing. However, his sanguine view of conditions in Jerusalem seems to disagree with another Opinion page article, "Jerusalem Revisited," Dec. 7, 1990, which stated: "The city is split in spirit as it has not been since 1967. The same applies to Israel and the occupied territories." Thus the present positive situation, if confirmed, has taken shape only in th e last 18 months. In any case, coexistence under the gun may be a mere illusion.

The author suggests that President Bush short-circuit the peace process by accepting a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This would antagonize not only the Palestinians and their allies, but also most of the world, which has been supporting the United Nations Partition Resolution since 1947. That resolution prescribes the internationalization of Jerusalem, which could lead to a solution that would satisfy all parties.

If, as the author suggests, the city could function as Israel's capital in the presence of an independent Palestinian authority, it could equally well serve as the capital of a Palestinian state. Both capitals could coexist under an international commission established by the UN. Peter Yff, Muncie, Ind.

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