Readers weigh in on previous issues of the 'Magazine.'
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)That Old CitySir, – In “A changing neighborhood” (Community, January 30), Ariel Cohen writes about the “Christian and Armenian populations” of Jerusalem’s Old City as if Armenians are not Christians.The writer also writes about a “strong Muslim population” and then switches to “the average annual growth rate of the Arabs,” thus conflating Muslims and Arabs. Nowhere does the writer mention the fact that many Arabs are Christians.I also smiled at the phrase “the Christian Quarter... is a mecca for pilgrims....”IDA SELAVAN SCHWARCZOmer Sir, – Ariel Cohen states that there are 100 churches in Jerusalem’s Old City and on Mount Zion. This is a gross exaggeration.Including all of the 14 Stations of the Cross, the so-called upper room (which is not a church, but a prayer hall run by the Religious Affairs Ministry) and the private prayer chapels of the different orders, there are no more than 30 churches.HELA CROWN-TAMIRNeveh IlanThe writer is a licensed tour guide.Elephants and garbage Sir, – As the controversy over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress reaches epidemic proportions, one searches in vain for proportionality and sanity.Lawrence Rifkin, in “By any name you please” (Grumpy Old Man, January 30), joins the many critics, his main reasoning being that our prime minister is insulting and provoking US President Barack Obama. He fails to appreciate the dangerous and crucial threat of a nuclear Iran. In fact, his column makes no mention of Iran at all – and that is the elephant in the room.Bibi’s unconventional emergency journey to the US Congress must be seen as the act of Israel’s defender and representative, who is appealing to those who seem to be deaf and blind.In Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy discusses those politicians throughout history who made painful decisions, sometimes at the expense of their political careers, to do what they felt was right no matter how unpopular it seemed at the time. So it is with Bibi’s bold initiative.YITZCHAK BEN-SHMUELModi’in Sir, – “By any name you please” is one of the biggest pieces of garbage ever published by The Jerusalem Post.Nobody except the author has used the term “Speechgate.”Furthermore, Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace, while they are entitled to express their opinions, do not represent the Fox News Channel.Rifkin ignores the fact that Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, in one of his Talking Points Memos, spoke in favor of Netanyahu’s invitation to speak to Congress.This was just another baldfaced, anti-Bibi screed.JOEL BLOCKHaifaExcise themSir, – I am a longtime fan of your Grumpy Old Man columns and agree wholeheartedly with the views they express.Regarding “With free speech come responsibilities – and standards” (January 16), the question that must be addressed is this: We all know that the large majority of Muslims are not terrorists. (This is being drummed into us all the time by politically correct liberals.) But why is it that most terrorists are Muslims? The Muslims who are not terrorists are well-integrated into their adopted countries and are law-abiding citizens. But there is a price to be paid for the benefits enjoyed. I don’t know if Islam allows excommunication, but it would be a way of removing elements that harm the general Muslim population.To paraphrase Chairman Mao, the ambiance must be made inaccessible to the terrorist fish.Islamophobia is a term being bandied about as morally reprehensible.But if Islam rejects this responsibility and does not excise the rotten apples in its basket, it might become a legitimate and necessary mechanism.DAVID MEYERHaifa
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