FRED SIMON WORMS Jerusalem
Watch out, Likud! Sir, – The price of gasoline has been steadily going up (“Gas prices rising to record high,” March 30) and the middle class is being hit hard to pay for increases in water and electricity as well.The question is, what can be done and are there any alternatives? As of now, electric cars are not an option. However, bicycles and electric bicycles are. What is needed are more lanes for these vehicles. In addition, the government should offer reduced prices on all public transportation to offset rising prices at the pump.This could give many car commuters an incentive to use this mode of travel, as well as a viable alternative to their cars.Since rising prices for electricity and water hit the middle class the hardest, the government could pay for lower utility prices by raising income taxes on those who can afford it the most. If not, the Likud could find itself in trouble with the voters at the next election.MATTIAS ROTENBERG Petah TikvaFlat Earth Sir, – Martin Sherman’s increasingly bombastic and arrogant level of rhetoric (“Square circles, aerodynamic pigs and two states,” Into the Fray, March 30) seems like the panic of a member of the Flat Earth Society who cannot escape the logic that points inexorably to a round planet. Moreover, he announces that he will squander future columns on more of the same.Sherman’s peculiar Flat Earth Society is his tantrum-driven denial that there can possibly be a coherent end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution that preserves a Jewish and democratic State of Israel. But there simply can be no other morally admissible or logically possible way, any more than there can be a flat Earth – so he continues to scream and blame and lash out and scapegoat and fulminate and apparently foredoom us to still more enraged, conceited, senseless and, above all, futile columns of denial.JAMES ADLER Cambridge, MassachusettsStop groveling Sir, – Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau, with the ostrich-like mentality that abounds in this land, believes that exporting gas to our neighbors will be an important step in building trust and peace in the region (“Landau: Israel’s first natural gas exports will go to Palestinians, Jordanians,” March 29).Forget that our neighbors are attacking us daily. Forget that they deny us our rights to this land.Forget that they incite daily toward our destruction. (Actually, we give them no reason to do otherwise.) My advice to this government would be to get off its collective knees, stop crawling and groveling, and behave like proud Jews in their sovereign state whose first and, in fact, only obligation is our security. There is a whole world looking out for our enemies, but only we can and must look out for ourselves.
YENTEL JACOBS NetanyaRage over Trayvon Sir, – In the March 26 Jerusalem Post there is a report on the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an ostensibly unarmed Afro-American teen (“Rallies held around the US for black teenager slain in Florida,” International News). In response to the shooting there were calls for federal intervention, as the local authorities had seemingly been negligent in their treatment of the case.This, in my opinion, was totally justified. The FBI is currently conducting such an investigation within the framework of federal statutes that possibly were violated.But to date no report has been issued; thus, not all the facts are on the table.Despite this, it seems the entire Afro-American community in the United States has been whipped into a frenzy over the possibility that the case has racial overtones.In its justifiable demand for justice, this same community has created the atmosphere of a lynch mob, with overtones of reverse racism.President Barack Obama, instead of being the great healer and unifier of the nation, has again proved himself to be the great divider by practically adopting the victim and thereby creating further incitement.I seriously question whether there is a venue anywhere in the US where the suspected perpetrator can receive a fair trial, if it comes to that. Thus, in a justifiable demand for justice, an injustice may have been created. At stake is nothing less than the American system of justice based on the concept of “innocent until proven guilty.”
RICHARD JACOBS HaifaThose microphones Sir, – US President Barack Obama’s recent overheard comment to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about having more flexibility after the election should serve as a wake-up call and give Israel cause for alarm.Based on Obama’s record of explicit antagonism toward Prime Minister Netanyahu (also overheard through an open microphone) and his tendency to abandon allies, one can only expect that after November there will be mounting pressure on Israel to make unilateral concessions to the Palestinians and a willingness to contain an Iranian nuclear bomb, despite any pre-election promises.KEREN LEVY HukukSir, – President Obama’s indiscreet words will come back to haunt him.For the president of the United States to tell others, especially non- Americans, that he will be more flexible after he is reelected is a sign of arrogance. He presumes he will not only be reelected, but will carry the majority of Congress.There is absolutely no sign of humility.The word is out among all nations: With President Obama you don’t get what you see or hear. He would like to act differently but is restrained by political realities. His agenda is hidden from the American people and from the nations he interacts with.What a sad reflection on the American presidency!
THELMA SUSSWEIN JerusalemRun for its money Sir, – Having competed in both the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv half-marathons, hats off to Nir Barkat and his team, who were far superior in all aspects of organization despite the mud and hail in Jerusalem.Tel Aviv, you have a lot to learn!
MICHAEL WILSCHANSKI Elazar