Palestinians turned down their own state Re: “Palestine should be a state,” June 2
Gerald Otten writes as though he just landed on Earth with no idea that the United Nations created a Palestinian state in its 1947 Partition Plan. Mr. Otten neglects to mention that the Arabs rejected the very state they now want the same U.N. to recognize.
Instead of accepting a two-state solution at the end of the British Mandate — as Israel did in 1948 — five Arab armies gang-attacked the infant state of Israel, forcing it to fight for its independence while sustaining heavy losses.
Mr. Otten would have Examiner readers believe that in spite of a Jewish presence in the land of Israel going back to Abraham and Moses, the U.N. created only a Jewish state in 1948 while denying a similar state to the Palestinians. As Mark Twain once admonished, let’s get our facts straight first and then we can distort them as much as we please.
David L. Frishberg
Arlington
Put soccer fields in Cabin John Regional Park
Re: “Leggett met with soccer group while pushing farm switch-over,” May 30
Why isn’t Cabin John Regional Park on the list of potential sites for new soccer fields? Private-public partnerships have worked with the horse stables in Wheaton Regional Park, the boat concessions in Lake Needwood Park, and the golf driving range in South Germantown Park.
Cabin John Regional Park is 525 acres and only has six baseball fields. Page 8 of the 2005 Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s master plan says that if the county does not have enough locally owned recreational lands to meet its overall goal of 30 acres per thousand residents, it may apply a portion of locally owned natural resource lands. “This includes one-third of Stream Valley, Conservation and undeveloped portions of Regional Parks.” Doesn’t this mean Cabin John and Wheaton regional parks?
The 2010 census reported Wheaton as 40 percent Hispanic, which is the demographic who plays soccer the most. Wheaton Regional Park has 536 acres, room for a lot of potential soccer fields, and already has maintenance buildings and crews. There are hundreds of acres available in regional parks — much more than the 20 acres under debate at Brickyard Road.
Carrie Smedira
Montgomery Village
Obama administration policies are malevolent
With proposed unlimited, vague and destructive war powers being inserted into the defense authorization bill, and his prior pronouncements regarding his ability to assassinate American citizens, President Obama has the dubious distinction of possibly becoming the most malevolent president ever.
Despite the positive press given to the alleged assassination of Osama bin Laden, that mafia hit was just another demonstration of U.S. willingness to kill anyone, anywhere, anytime. It also clearly demonstrated the seeming irrelevance of Pakistan’s — and every other country’s — sovereignty.
Other evil manifestations are the invasion of Libya for “humanitarian” reasons, the ongoing attempt to assassinate Moammar Ghadafi, the continuing drone killing of civilians in the Middle East to supposedly fight terrorism, and the renewal and enhancement of the “Patriot Act”.
Larry W. William
Indianapolis
