Letters to the Editor

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Letters in Issue 15, November 10, 2008 of The Jerusalem Report. click here to subscribe. Letters to the Editor are welcomed, please email to jrep@jreport.co.il Under Attack Professor Zeev Sternhell rightly notes that Israeli democracy is under attack ("Attacked for His Views," Oct. 27); the true culprits, however, may surprisingly not be only the ones that he identifies. For example, we have a situation in which decisions on whether to indict politicians for corruption are made in accordance with their political beliefs. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has tried to take advantage of this. As the Talansky scandal grew hotter and hotter, Olmert declared that a peace agreement would require the division of Jerusalem, and only he is qualified to carry this out. If he truly believed this to be the case, why wait until now? After all, he had two years as prime minister to do it. There is an easy answer. Olmert is throwing himself on the mercy of the public prosecution, which unfortunately takes political positions into account. This was true earlier in the case of Omri Sharon, who was not indicted until his father fell into a coma, making Omri dispensable. Sternhell is noted to be an expert on fascism. As such, he should recognize that a democracy is a contest between multiple viewpoints, and not between what he deems "enlightened opinion" and "unenlightened opinion." I would take him more seriously as a defender of Israeli democracy, if he condemned not only abuses from the right, but also from the left, both of which are corrosive to the Israeli democratic spirit. Herbert Kaine Berkeley, California In your article dealing with the pipebomb placed near the home of Prof. Zeev Sternhell by unknown militants, there is a photo of a woman demonstrating on his behalf carrying a sign, "We are not afraid." Considering that the so-called "right-wing Jewish underground," Sternhell's béte noire, has made one attack on Jews every 12 or 13 years (1983, 1995 and 2008 - in Sternhell's own words), one wonders what she has not to be afraid about! Doug Greener Jerusalem Assault on Hamas As a gesture to Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas and the PLO, Israel should freeze and crack down on settlement activity. The Israeli Army and the police should act sternly against settler violence. The IDF should also demolish all illegal outposts. In addition, Israel should gradually phase out all new construction tenders for bypass roads and for housing in existing settlements. In exchange, Israel should demand a Fatah assault on the Hamas military infrastructure in the West Bank ("Fatah Gets Ready to Take on Hamas," Oct. 27). Fatah should be made to see that increased security for Israel will translate into reduced settler activity. In so doing, Israel can strengthen the moderates on the Palestinian side and pave the way for a provisional Palestinian state under an interim agreement. Naim Peress Forest Hills, New York A Question of Lifestyle The Egged bus company decided to accommodate a large segment of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox population with an additional bus line with separate seating for men and women. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, The Report chose to report this with phrases like "segregation," "Egged bowed to pressure" and "enforce separate seating" ("14 Days," Sept. 1). How sad this lack of respect for and vilifying of the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle and sensibilities by your magazine. Mayer Sax Brooklyn New York Letters in Issue 15, November 10, 2008 of The Jerusalem Report. click here to subscribe. Letters to the Editor are welcomed, please email to jrep@jreport.co.il