If we Jews cannot build and live in our capital Jerusalem, then what right do we have to build and live in Tel Aviv?
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORUpdated: MARCH 9, 2016 22:26Letters(photo credit: REUTERS)Right to buildPeace Now has no legal or moral basis to oppose building in the Jerusalem suburb of Ramat Shlomo (“Ramat Shlomo project advances just as Biden arrives, says Peace Now,” March 9).Ramat Shlomo is built on stateowned land captured from Jordan in the war of self-defense of 1967. No Arabs lived there, and none have been displaced or inconvenienced by the building of homes, schools and synagogues in a suburb that is inhabited by mainly Orthodox Jews.One can only wonder why every squawk from this NGO, whose aim is not peace, but undermining the sovereignty of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, gets front-page publicity.If we Jews cannot build and live in our capital Jerusalem, then what right do we have to build and live in Tel Aviv?BEN FRIEDMAN Ra’ananaAppropriate timing There is no question that Ze’ev Elkin’s position regarding the use of the 7th of the Hebrew month of Heshvan to honor aliya is the right way to go (“MKs spar over best date to honor aliya,” March 8).For decades now, Jewish organizations all over the world, including Israel, have used the coinciding Torah portion “Lech Lecha” as a “Shabbat Aliya.” For several years after our own aliya, I remember being asked by the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel to speak about aliya at our local synagogue specifically on the Shabbat in which “Lech Lecha” was read. And a quick search on the Internet will reveal many aliya-related events and conferences held on or during the week of that Torah portion.Joshua’s conquest of Jericho and the Land of Israel should certainly be considered an important milestone, but the symbolism of Abraham leaving his familiar home for a new and unfamiliar land is much closer to the true aliya experience.GERSHON HARRIS Hatzor HaglilitChristian confab I carefully read Caroline B. Glick’s account of the Christian Checkpoint Conference (“The subversion of American Evangelicals,” Our World, March 8). She points out many distortions and lies by the conference organizers.However, she does not include the ultimate hypocrisy.While the conference has been held in the past in Bethlehem, this year it was held at the Orient Palace Hotel in Beit Jala. Under the Oslo Accords, Bethlehem is totally controlled by the Palestinian Authority; nearby Beit Jala is essentially controlled by Israel.Very few people went to the conference solely because of the checkpoints or security situation.They went because ISIS is threatening Christian life in Bethlehem, leaving non-Muslims inadequately protected by the PA. At the request of the organizers, the conference was moved to Beit Jala.Here you have a group of Christians protesting Israel and its army moving away from PA-controlled Bethlehem to meet in safety under IDF-supervised protection. Hypocritical is not strong enough a word to describe this ludicrous situation.SHARON ALTSHUL JerusalemIt should come as no surprise that the so-called Christians of Bethlehem continue to hold conferences and preach anti-Israel propaganda.As a licensed tour guide for the past 22 years, I have had the privilege and joy to meet real Christians. By definition, they are people from all over the world dedicated to love, respect and honor the Jewish state and our people.These Christians do not believe in replacement theology, which means that God sees Christians as the real Israel. What nonsense! No, real Christians are people from all over the world who love, pray, defend and support us with all their heart.I have been blessed to meet so many of them, and they continue to come in great numbers in spite of the continual threat of war and terrorism. We can count on them. They are our true friends!HELA TAMIR Neve IlanVerbal arsenalI have to disagree with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who says US presidential hopeful Donald Trump shouldn’t be compared to Hitler (“The vile comparisons of Donald Trump to Hitler,” No Holds Barred, March 8).My grandmother was fortunate to immigrate to the United States from Poland before the Nazis took over. Many of her (and my) relatives stayed behind and were murdered by the Nazis.I am actively involved in my synagogue and the Jewish community.I certainly understand and feel the weight of the Holocaust, the importance of always remembering it appropriately.We say “Never again” – one of the major reasons we remember the Shoah, so that we can fight to make sure it is never repeated.Just because someone is not (yet) threatening a genocide on the same scale as the Nazis shouldn’t automatically disqualify this person from being compared to Hitler.The Nazis did many bad things along the way to genocide. One must remember that there were years of warning signs on the road to Hitler’s rise to power.When we see many parallels to this, as we do with Trump, we are right to say so. After all, what other language do we have to so effectively communicate the danger? Trump has also been compared to Mussolini, but that doesn’t carry even a fraction of the weight of the comparison to Hitler.How many Americans will wonder: “Who was Mussolini? What did he do?” By unilaterally disarming ourselves of one of the most powerful weapons in our verbal arsenal, we risk failing to convince potential Trump supporters of the danger in voting for him. Just because Trump isn’t talking today about murdering millions of people doesn’t mean his rhetoric/ philosophy won’t lead to that tomorrow, directly or through subordinates.The parallels to Hitler’s rise are too significant for us to deprive ourselves of that comparison. We must truly ensure “Never again.”STEVEN ROTHKIN Ossining, New YorkThe moral caseKudos to The Jerusalem Post for placing on the front page Seth J.Frantzman’s sensitive and informative article on the Yazidi-Kurdish delegation’s visit to Yad Vashem (“‘How could something like this happen in the 21st century?’” March 7). I wonder what the members of the delegation made of the exhibit showing how the nations of the world closed their borders to Jews fleeing a murderous regime.It was left to the indefatigable and compassionate Lisa Miara, founder of the Springs of Hope Foundation, which works to give a voice to persecuted religious and ethnic minorities of the Middle East, to deliver the moral case for the Jewish people to assume its responsibility. How I wish that message had been delivered by the chief rabbis.EDWIN SHUKER LondonTerminology issues On March 7, you published a letter headlined “What occupation?” It protested your reference to pre-withdrawal Gaza as having been “occupied.” The day before, you published the article “Maslul project to spur conversion in FSU before aliya,” in the course of which your correspondent referred to the “municipal chief rabbi of the Elazar settlement in Gush Etzion....”Can we now look forward to references in The Jerusalem Post to “the Netanya settlement, between Haifa and Tel Aviv,” and thereafter to “the Tel Aviv settlement on the coastal strip”? By all means, continue to move your newspaper’s attitudes on politics and religion leftward.When we get really fed up, those of us who are less politically correct can always just cancel our subscription. But is that what you really want?LESLIE PORTNOY Netanya
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