If the US were truly committed to resolving all issues in this manner, it would not describe settlements in the disputed territories as “illegitimate” and an “impediment to peace.”
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Text and territory The Obama administration’s continued refusal to recognize Jerusalem as part of the State of Israel (“White House removes ‘Israel’ from Obama transcript,” October 2) is sadly parallel to its rejection of the most accurate description of the major threat to world order: radical Islamic terror.In both cases, the world’s most powerful nation adamantly opposes what is abundantly clear to any rational human being, merely in order to avoid some hypothetical offense to the Arab/Muslim world. In reality, these stances are paternalistic and counterproductive. Refusing to identify radical Islamic terror suggests that peaceful Muslims are unable to recognize and deal with the violent cancer growing within their midst.An accurate diagnosis is the first step toward ridding the body of an illness before it becomes terminal. Failure to accurately diagnose the metastasizing threat allows the rest of the world to paint all of Islam with an overly broad brush while absolving the Muslim body-politic of any responsibility for its own health.With regard to Jerusalem, a senior administration official is quoted as stating: “The status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in final-status negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.”If the US were truly committed to resolving all issues in this manner, it would not describe settlements in the disputed territories as “illegitimate” and an “impediment to peace.” Nor would it call for a two-state solution based on the 1967 armistice lines. Such policies clearly favor the Palestinian position on fundamental issues from the outset, and render fair negotiations virtually impossible.Failure to state definitively Jerusalem’s true character only extends the dispute by giving Palestinians and the greater Arab community the false hope that Jewish control of the city is only temporary. The sooner Israel’s enemies come to terms with our permanent presence in the capital of our national homeland, the sooner they will be willing to negotiate in good faith on reasonable resolutions of the remaining issues.EFRAIM A. COHEN Zichron Ya’acovThe While House “correction” saying that President Barack Obama attended Shimon Peres’s funeral in “disputed territory” rather than in Jerusalem was the ultimate insult to the deceased.It also made Obama’s eulogy a mockery in light of all the flattering words that came out of his mouth.If Jerusalem is disputed territory because it was won in a war, then much of the Unites States is disputed territory, too. After all, it was also acquired as the spoils of war. To be accurate, therefore, Obama is not president of the United States, but president of disputed territory.MILTON H. POLIN Jerusalem Won’t change anything Regarding “Abbas in Jerusalem” (Editorial, October 2), you are critical of Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett’s position that it was wrong of those “who lined up to shake the hand of a man who he said ‘encourages the murder of Israelis.’” You go on to say that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s presence at Shimon Peres’s funeral was important, calling it “a step in changing Palestinian perception.”You can’t say that a man who, to this very day, incites his people to murder Jews has taken an important step in changing Palestinian perceptions by attending Peres’s funeral. It’s like saying that by attending the funeral of a fire chief, a person who runs a gang of arsonists and has not renounced setting things on fire (and you know full well that he is going to encourage such deeds the following day) will change the perception of his gang! The same editorial could have been written following the signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn in 1993, in that Yasser Arafat’s shaking the hands of Peres and Yitzhak Rabin would change Palestinian perceptions.AVI SCHREIBERHashmonaimTrump vs Clinton I am perplexed by my fellow Jews’ support for Hillary Clinton – and for Democrats in general.President Barack Obama has brought 680,000 inadequately vetted Muslim migrants into the US, and Clinton has boasted of her plan to bring 100,000 Syrians by the end of 2017 (and that’s just Syrians). Many of them might be fine, peaceful people, but they have grown up in societies whose governments and media vilify Jews on a daily basis.To believe they will leave those ingrained hatreds behind is monumentally naive and dangerous.Clinton championed the Iran deal and gave Tehran a clear path to becoming a regional nuclear superpower, thereby creating an existential threat to Israel.Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), who chaired the Democratic Party at the time, chose the deal over her people by supporting the accord. Sen.Charles Schumer (D-New York) was the only prominent Democrat brave enough to oppose it.Clinton supports Black Lives Matter, a movement that has recently taken up the Palestinian cause and called Israel’s treatment of Palestinians “genocide” and “apartheid.” Her running mate, Tim Kaine – who, considering Clinton’s recent medical issues, could end up being president – boycotted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in 2015, as did 50 other Democrats.The Democrats are no longer Israel-friendly and are supportive of blatantly antisemitic groups and movements. Why any Jew would support them is beyond me.GARY TAUSTINENew YorkI read that Donald Trump has more political offices in Israel than he has in Florida. This was a shock because he is running for office in America.More importantly, why would any Jew support a man whom every swastika-bearer has gotten behind? This puts any Jew supporting Trump in league with neo-Nazis. Jews supporting Trump must be prepared to answer to their children and grandchildren as to why they turned their back on their offspring for their own selfish rationale.These Jews are a disgrace to our faith.Trump preys on low-information voters, ignorant voters, racist voters and stupid people.That is his coalition. How can Israelis defend this man? Will anyone in Israel call out these disgraceful members of our faith? Trump is a con man who is attempting to use uniformed Israelis in an effort to sway their friends and relatives in America toward his antisemitic ways.Those Israelis who support him must understand how they are giving a free pass to the swastika- bearers of the world who wish to bring back Hitler’s Final Solution.Keep in mind, too, that Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, believes at his core in the Rapture – where Israel must be destroyed so that the Christian savior can return. He believes this will happen in our lifetime.His is a sickness as bad or worse than Trump’s.These are purely evil people, and Israelis must know the truth.MARK KLEIN Marietta, GeorgiaGetting it rightShame on the Diaspora Affairs Ministry! It spends hundreds of thousands of shekels on a media campaign by a PR company for New Years greeting cards via the digital media, but does not bother to proofread the product! There are hundreds of young, native English-speaking olim looking for a first job in Israel. At least one could be employed at the ministry for an annual salary amounting to less than 10% of the PR firm’s retainer, and also help with proofreading to detect such embarrassing mistakes as “Sahna Tova”! MICHAEL JANKELOWITZJerusalemThe writer is former spokesman to the foreign press for the Jewish Agency.
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