We were disappointed to see that once again, Vashon Islanders for Peace is seeking to oversimplify a complicated situation with misleading information about the Middle East.

Last week’s article in The Beachcomber (“Israel-Palestine conflict: Speakers come to Vashon”) speaks of nine million Palestinian refugees. However, in an interview with Corvallis Public Radio earlier this month, its sponsored speaker, Eitan Bronstein, claimed that the actual number was closer to 7,000 or 8,000.

Israel was born from the ashes of 2,000 years of anti-Semitism and wholesale slaughter. In 1948, when the modern state came into being, nine armies invaded the new republic with the express purpose of murdering every Jewish man, woman and child. For the last 60 years, Israel has been forced to attempt to create a democracy in an environment of perpetual hostility.

The plight of Palestinian refugees is a humanitarian crisis that must be addressed. However, it will never be solved by Israel alone.

Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt have each, at various times, expelled the refugees from their soil, forcing them to huddle on Israel’s borders where they provide a conveniently hostile buffer and a constant threat to Israeli security. While Mr. Bronstein petitions the courts in Israel for recognition of Palestinian village names, children in the Palestinian camps are being taught to hate and to kill.

Israelis live in a society that permits dissent and guarantees free speech. Unfortunately, no similar guarantees exist in the nations that surround Israel.

While Mr. Bronstein is able to tour the world, no similar efforts are under way to recognize all those Jewish communities in the Arab world that were wiped out in retribution for what they call the “Catastrophe” — the realization of a homeland for millions of displaced persons who would very much like to live in peace.

In Iraq alone, 150,000 Jews lived in harmony with their Arab neighbors until they were expelled in genocidal retaliation for the creation of the Jewish state.

It would be very good to discuss the challenges that arise when a people try to build a democracy in a hostile world. It would be good to discuss these things with respect and honesty. Misleading and one-sided morality plays do little to bring us closer to peace.

— Andrew Schwarz and Tom Bean are Islanders interested in peace in the Middle East.