The U.S. sacrifices its own best interests with punitive laws that require defunding of vital U.N. groups who dare to recognize Palestine as a state ("UNESCO vote on Palestine shuts off funding from U.S.," Nov. 1). There can be no clearer example of the baleful influence wrought by our unconditional support of Israel — the "excessive entanglement" in foreign countries that George Washington warned about.
The Obama Administration claims the UNESCO vote was a blow to U.S. efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiation table. But the goal of negotiations is a peace based on justice, and there can be no such thing as long as Israel continues to defiantly expand settlements. Yet the U.S. laws against the U.N. assume, a priori, that Palestinian interests are the problem and therefore support the moribund status quo.
John G. Bailey, Edgemere