TOBY WILLIG JerusalemHead for Damascus Sir, – Regarding “Officials tone down response to UNHRC mission” (March 26), the officials are the ones who should be toned down.Some have called the proposed mission on settlements “Goldstone Two,” and with good reason.Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman struck the right tone when he called it diplomatic terrorism.It would be only correct in terms of self-defense to refuse to let the mission into Israel at all.Tell the HRC to send it to Syria.YONATAN SILVERMAN Tel Aviv
DC street names Sir, – Regarding “Participants at J Street conference in Washington call for action in face of challenges” (March 26), for some reason the alphabetically-named streets in the US capital to not include the letter J. I suggest the need for such a street. In view of J Street’s record, it should be J for Judas.I also note that like J Street, The Jerusalem Post, for its forthcoming conference in New York, has chosen Ehud Olmert as a speaker.Clearly, Olmert represents the best in Israel.ELIEZER WHARTMAN JerusalemVery low indeed Sir, – How low do we sink when we emulate those who hate us (“Police investigate anti-Arab riot at Malha Mall,” March 26)? I think we have reached the lowest point with this outrageous behavior.How were these bigots educated? What kind of homes are they from? Somehow, we have to reach into kindergarten and elementary schools and teach, by example, demonstration and even formal lessons, the most basic facts of life. Evidently, the system has failed miserably.As for the lessons in bigotry and hatred learned at home, they must be combated on every front, even to the extent of putting public relations firms to work. This must not be ignored.Behavior such as that described in the article is shameful, diseased and destructive to all of us.MARCELLA WACHTEL JerusalemReality in France Sir, – Barry Rubin’s column “France: Here comes the whitewash” (The Region, March 26) does not reflect the action taken by the government of France, which in my opinion behaved with compassion and responsibility toward the Jewish victims. It also sent the foreign minister to Israel together with the coffins.These gestures were acknowledged by the Israeli government.Having said that, there is no doubt that there is a severe problem in certain suburbs with some Muslim extremists, which can lead to what occurred in Toulouse. But to declare that this is what is happening in general is just not the case.France has a vibrant Jewish community, and its leadership, under CRIF, will make sure this does not happen. Anti-Semitism exists, no doubt, but the majority of the country’s 600,000 Jews enjoy quite a good life. Paris has over 200 kosher restaurants that are thriving.It’s true that some French Jews have bought apartments in Israel, mostly as second and vacation homes, and a few thousand will now come on aliya, like every year. But on this sad and tragic occasion, President Nicolas Sarkozy and his government acted in the appropriate manner.HENRY WEIL JerusalemSir, – Hats-off for publishing Barry Rubin’s “France: Here comes the whitewash.” The “guardian” Sarkozy is determined to provide France’s citizenry with undisturbed sleep, yet his prime minister admits you can’t prevent Salafists from dreaming of bloody massacres or shooting pointblank Jewish three-, six- and eight-year-olds in the head.
KARL HUTTENBAUER BerlinBefore you go Sir, – Micha Lindenstrauss’s term as state comptroller is fast drawing to a close. There is little doubt he will be remembered as one of the most effective comptrollers in our country’s history, and I would like to use this opportunity to request that he act in two more critical areas.The first is the law against carrying dangerous knives. It carries heavy penalties, but sadly there are only three instances in which police can act: when they determine that someone wielding a knife is about to attack, when they have a specific search warrant, or when they are on duty outside a place of entertainment where body searches can be conducted.Tens of thousands of dangerous knives are in circulation.Many of the carriers are hotheaded and settle disputes in a flash. The police are virtually powerless to act.The second area is unemployment statistics. Our statistics now include only those who are drawing unemployment pay. The minute these people cease receiving benefits they are excluded from the statistics, even if they remain unemployed.Because of false statistics, the government has no incentive to do anything.In the OECD we are recognized as a country that invests relatively little in dealing with unemployment and retraining. As the Bank of Israel expects unemployment figures to rise, this needs a correction.
DAVID GOSHEN Kiryat Ono
Electricity costs Sir, – I think the public is entitled to some honest answers from both the government and the Israel Electric Corporation concerning the latest rise in prices (“Netanyahu promises to tackle electricity rate hikes,” Business & Finance, March 26).Why does the government always delight in announcing serious price hikes just before a holiday? How much more harm would be caused if those hikes were delayed until afterward? How much of the Electric Corporation’s financial problems are due to the free electricity it supplies to its employees and pensioners? And how can a bankrupt body give every worker a Pessah gift of NIS 1,400, as reported on the evening news? Perhaps the time has come to appoint a receiver to bring order back to this company so that the public can look forward to a regular, uninterrupted supply of a basic necessity at a reasonable cost. And please do not tell us that electricity here is cheaper than in some European countries until our monthly incomes are at the same level.
EMANUEL FISCHER JerusalemOccupation as defense Sir, – Jonathan Rosen (“Disengagement, occupation and missile fire,” Inside Out, March 22) argues that “Occupation never was nor is it the answer to the threat of missile attacks.” This ignores a critical factor: Hamas could not have smuggled in the missiles if Israel had remained in Gush Katif and in control of Gaza’s border with Egypt.According to international law, a country is entitled to occupy territory of another country in order to prevent being attacked.The right of self-defense is universally recognized. What’s Rosen’s “political, military and ethical” problem with that? Ariel Sharon’s plan of unilateral disengagement was a disaster, as nearly everyone except a few like Rosen now realize, and was opposed by most of the IDF’s strategic planning and intelligence staffs.MOSHE DANN Jerusalem