No status change

The U.N. has voted to alter the status of the Palestinian delegation to the U.N. Laughable are contortions the U.S. and Israel have made to make the case that it is not in the interest of peace.

Every two or three years there is fighting in the Mideast, which results in the deaths of many Palestinians and a small number of Israelis. There always follows attention to the Mideast and efforts toward peace that go nowhere.

Peace efforts go nowhere because the status quo is working fine for Israel. It can afford a small number of Israeli deaths every few years. It is glad to talk about peace. It has been doing this ever since it took over the West Bank of Jordan 45 years ago.

The Israeli government obviously hopes that over time the world will just become accustomed to the current status quo and get used to the idea of an Israel that includes the West Bank of Jordan.

The government of Israel does not want peace enough to give up anything, no matter what they say. All that the Palestinians can do is get meaningless crumbs from the U.N.

Stephen Dovenitz, Durham