It should be “natural” for young Jews in England to defend the State of Israel.
By JERUSALEM POST READERSLetters 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )Role models Sir, – Liat Collins writes in “Unhidden identities” (My Word, November 8) that it should be “natural” for young Jews in England to defend the State of Israel.Of course, she is right. Sadly, though, the truth is that we are living in unnatural times, when some Jewish leaders and educators in the UK seem to prefer young Jews to be inspired by those actively engaged in the delegitimization of the Jewish State rather than in its defense.One classic example is the annual Limmud Conference, where year after year eminent Jewish and non-Jewish speakers are invited to bash Israel.LYNETTE ORDMAN NetanyaLegal shenanigans Sir, – Kol hakavod to Caroline B. Glick for her survey of our legal shenanigans (“The greatest threat to Israeli democracy,” Column One, November 8). She is brilliant to have unraveled her argument as she did.Oh, for the days of a Solomon, who just said “Cut him in half” and so solved the altercations, lies and deceits.We should be ashamed of ourselves for doing and for allowing.Some chosen people! JUNE LEVY NetanyaConflicting reports Sir, – Once again, Suha Arafat is back on board and reveling in the limelight that has eluded her for some time (“Arafat was poisoned with polonium, Swiss report conclude,” November 7). All this is thanks to the generosity of European and other taxpayers who continually line the coffers of the Palestinian Authority.It seems the battle lines are drawn between the two contenders, one whose findings were negative and the other positive despite many inconsistencies and a lack of evidence.Another nail in the coffin (excuse the pun) focuses on the corruption and ineptitude within the Palestinian leadership, where suspicion regarding the presumed murder of Arafat is manifesting itself.Nevertheless, this population is actively supported by a world that is impotent and dysfunctional vis a vis the horrors of genocide manifested throughout Syria, the Middle East and Africa, preferring instead to project attention on the malicious distortion of so-called Palestinian suffering and on the enmity toward Israel.GISH TRUMAN ROBBINS PardesiyaImportant intervention Sir, – We applaud your coverage of the certification of the first Israeli cohort of spiritual care providers (“Certification awarded to first ‘spiritual care provider’ group,” November 7).The process of standardizing this important profession in Israel will assure us that those who are in fragile states of crisis will be offered a much-needed dimension of support while being protected from those who could attempt to exploit this vulnerability.We at Life’s Door-Tishkofet (LDT) proudly employ several of those who achieved certification last week and can attest to the daily impact that this service has on offering hope for patients and families facing life-threatening illness and loss. From Karmiel in the North to Ashdod in the South, LDT’s community- based spiritual support teams of professionals and volunteers are changing the way people face illness.Now that their certification has become official, we look forward to the next step, when public funds are allocated for this important intervention. It is not the responsibility solely of generous funders such as UJANY and others to care for those in our midst.BEN and DVORA CORN Jerusalem The writers are the founders of Life’s Door-TishkofetEthnic identity Sir, – Thanks go to The Jerusalem Post and correspondent Maya Shwayder for “Former CIA director renews call for Pollard’s release” (November 7).James Woolsey suggests that President Barack Obama not be “hung up” over the fact that Jonathan Pollard is an American Jew or Israeli, and to pretend that he is a “South Korean or Filipino- American,” which was the background of people who received lighter sentences for spying, “or an ally from someplace else, and free him.”Better still, Obama could pretend that Pollard is a Muslim or Afro-American, in which case Pollard would unhesitatingly be set free.LEONARD KAHN Zichron Ya’acovPathetic palaver Sir, – The pithy headline of Douglas Bloomfield’s p-heavy slam of the Saudis (“Petulant potentates peeved at president,” Washington Watch, November 7) pathetically afflicts us all with palsy and palpitations.“Pissed-off potentates” and “missiles up the keister” aren’t poetic or pleasant from this Washington pundit despite his perspicaciousness. Why abandon the ad hominem principle for gutter Americanese? ESTER ZEITLIN Jerusalem Doomed to failure Sir, – “Why large projects fail” and “Jerusalem’s public squares are in trouble” (Comment & Features, November 7) draw attention to the large-scale waste of public money resulting from insufficient inquiry before big public projects are launched.The massive construction project on Route 1 at the approach to Jerusalem is a case in point. In the absence of a second evaluation team (as proposed in the first of these articles) to act as a devil’s advocate, I wish to point out why this project will not achieve its central objective – reducing the enormous backup of Jerusalem- bound traffic during the morning rush hour.Apparently, the designers did not realize a simple fact: The rate at which a liquid pours out of a bottle depends primarily on the size of the bottle’s neck.If Route 1 is made wider but nothing is changed at the entrance to Jerusalem, the rate at which vehicles enter Jerusalem at the Bridge of Strings will not improve despite the NIS2.5 billion spent. We have been told nothing about intended changes at this location, nor have we seen any sign of roadworks there.The obvious solution would be a comprehensive underpass system, which would have an effect infinitely greater than widening Route 1 and cost much less.The scheme will also introduce routing difficulties for motorists on their way via Route 1 to Mevaseret Zion, Motza or Beit Zayit. Today they can reach their destination by turning off at the Motza interchange. When this scheme is completed they will have to continue kilometers toward Tel Aviv and then turn back, wasting time and fuel, and increasing air pollution.GERRY MYERS Beit ZayitWhere’s the beef? Sir, – I was disappointed to read “Report: Israeli health system among most unequal in OECD countries” (November 6).My first disappointment was the very idea that our health system is not among the most progressive, as I had previously – apparently naively – believed.But mainly I missed reading information or some reasoning about why this might be so.We all know about the long waiting lists and some remaining issues of protectzia in the health plans, as well as comments about better treatment in private facilities. Nevertheless, I always thought we were not only technically advanced, but among the nations whose health services were the most egalitarian.There was some reference to “major health gaps” and some “hopes” for changes with more money, but what I wanted to know was in what ways are our presumed broad coverage and relative equality of treatment and great facilities actually deficient? How is it that inequalities exist? MOSHE KAPLAN Herzliya
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