By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Shame on Abu Dhabi...In “Judo shame” (Editorial, November 1), you say: “The commentators with British accents knew enough about judo to praise Tal Flicker’s techniques as he flounced his opponent from Azerbaijan. But they were eerily silent about the proverbial elephant on the tatami. They obediently accepted the terms set by Abu Dhabi’s bigots and refrained from commentating as Flicker stood lipping ‘Hatikva.’” I absolutely concur with your next sentence: “Humans, it seems, are remarkably accepting of humiliating treatment as ‘just the way things are.’” Furthermore, it is my contention that Abu Dhabi should be disqualified from all future world sporting events for its disgraceful and blatant disregard for, and violation of, international rules and regulations until it openly rescinds its vicious and racist agenda.Would it also not be entirely conceivable that all international sporting bodies refrain from participating in solidarity when one of them is targeted and subjected to such discrimination?GISH TRUMAN ROBBINSPardesiya ...and pros elsewhere Many sports aficionados in the United States are offended by the behavior of professional athletes.In the 1940s and 1950s, the sports arena was welcomed as a form of escape from the humdrum of life’s struggles. A ball game was an opportunity for parents to connect with their offspring. Most contests were object lessons in civility and teamwork.Not so today. Not uncommonly, professional athletes politicize personal gripes and express religious, ethnic and racial slurs (“Manfred strikes out on Gurriel ban decision,” Sports, October 30), and openly insult their own flag and national anthem, ignoring the supreme sacrifices men and women made to ensure the very freedoms and opportunities that enable them to express this discontent.But the playing field is not the correct venue to demonstrate.It is time for fans to take back their sports and restore civility in the arenas. Spectators should abstain from attending games, and team owners should bench, suspend, fine and even trade players who demonstrate unbecoming behavior and disrespect to the nation.ROBERT DUBLINJerusalem Total nonsenseHad “We don’t need no Balfour declarations... or celebrations” (Center Field, November 1) appeared in Haaretz, I would have thought it par for the course and ignored it. How your editor did not spike this irrelevant and incorrect offering I do not know.To make an analogy of the Balfour Declaration with the Magna Carta and the US Declaration of Independence is totally wrong.Britain was already a nation controlled by a wicked monarch, and the Magna Carta was drawn up to withdraw the sole rights of the monarch and start to give power to the people. The same applies to the Declaration of Independence.The people were in-situ and they had to rid themselves of a colonial power ruling them from thousands of miles away.The Jews had been expelled from their land by the Romans and were living in communities throughout the world. The land declared by the Romans as “Palestine” was ruled by the hegemony of several subsequent colonial powers, ending with the British. It was settled by diverse Arab communities and then by Jews from the middle of the 19th century.Israel would not be a nation today without the Balfour Declaration and, more importantly, by the 1947 partition vote in the United Nations, which gave the Jews the legal right to create their new nation-state.The column by Gil Troy is total nonsense.CONRAD SANDLERHerzliya/London Don’t be afraidWith regard to “Palestinian leaders need to have ‘that’ Santa conversation with their people” (Comment & Features, November 1), just as there is no Santa Claus, there is no good terrorist. Imagine that Israel had to blow up terrorists who were under Israeli soil when it destroyed a tunnel from the Gaza Strip.The Europeans can think that the Palestinians want to be real friends of Israel, but the Palestinian leadership defends wanton murder and terror directed against Jews and denies us any right to self-defense. They really want to kill Jews – any Jews they can.We should not be afraid to kill terrorists even if Europe condemns us for it.TOBY WILLIGJerusalem Coverage of Trump Reader Zev M. Shandalov (“Unusual cartoon,” Letters, November 1) sarcastically criticizes The Jerusalem Post for its recent negative cartoons about US President Donald Trump. He is ignoring what a great target Trump is for cartoonists because, among other things, he constantly lies; often uses Twitter to criticize parents of dead soldiers, members of his cabinet, Republican politicians and others; and promotes harmful policies inconsistent with basic Jewish values.Please consider that while Judaism places great stress on preserving human health, Trump and almost all congressional Republicans have promoted health-care bills that, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office, would result in up to 32 million Americans losing their health insurance, and people with pre-existing conditions being unable to get health insurance at affordable rates.While Judaism stresses concern for the widow, the orphan and every person in need, Trump and other Republicans are promoting a tax plan that would give major tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, resulting in a major increase in the US deficit and/or a major cut in programs that most Americans depend on.While Judaism teaches concern for the environment, Trump, despite a very strong scientific consensus about climate threats, pulled the US out of a climate pact agreed to by all of the 195 nations, including Israel, at the 2015 Paris climate-change conference.He is doing all he can to roll back environmental regulations designed to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.Trump is well deserving of such cartoons.RICHARD H. SCHWARTZShoresh In response to Michael Wilner’s front-page article “Mueller reveals first moves against Trump officials in Russia probe” (October 31), the headline is very misleading considering that special prosecutor Robert Mueller has been investigating Russian collusion, no matter where that takes him.As we have discovered, the indictments were a result of actions executed even before Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. All news reports are stating that Paul Manafort broke the law well before he ever worked for the campaign. It is also a well-known fact that Manafort was dismissed from the campaign once it was discovered that he might be guilty of Russian collusion.Yet Wilner’s story sounds as if the special prosecutor has found something to pin on the Trump administration because he’s convinced that the administration did collude with Russia. This is not so, at least for the moment.Much of what is reported about Trump in The Jerusalem Post seems very negative to me, and while that is expected (although often exaggerated or unwarranted), readers expect accurate reporting. Wilner’s headline, in my opinion, falls short of that.COOKIE SCHWAEBER-ISSANGizoThe editor responds: Reporters do not write the headlines for their reports.Influence of words The area located on the western bank of the Jordan River has been called Judea and Samaria for thousands of years; it was the Palestinians, whose publicly stated goal is to replace the Jewish state with a Palestinian state, who renamed it the West Bank.The Palestinians are well aware that words influence events, so it’s time that all Jews recognize this and use Judea and Samaria, and not any other term.SANDER PORITZKYFort Lauderdale, Florida
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