Letters to the Editor: Common denominator

Our enemies, of course, regard all of this country as disputed territory, or “Israel improper.”

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters (photo credit: REUTERS)
Letters
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Common denominator
 Alan Eisner, vice president for communications at J Street, categorically says that the “unbreakable bond” between Israel and the United States is in danger of erosion if the “occupation continues” (“No chance Netanyahu, Obama will heal their rift, says J Street,” October 7). He blames the so-called occupation for being the root of all evil, believing its end will usher forth the final redemption.
Unfortunately, Mr. Eisner seems to display naiveté about the realities that comprise the complex geopolitical, religious and social tensions that find their expression in this region. I challenge him to find any causal connection between the following news events reported on the same day: • “Thousands of refugees in Jordan return to Syria” (Page 7) • “NATO rejects Russian excuse on Turkish air space,” “15 soldiers dead in Aden attacks on gov’t targets” and “Car bomb attacks kill 57 people in Iraq” (Page 8) • “Boko Haram terrorists kill 11 Chadian troops” and “Pro-Russian Ukraine rebels postpone vote” (Page 9) • “Forces seize M-16 used by Hamas to kill Henkins” (Page 10).
The common denominator for all these events is an Islam that has been kidnapped by ruthless murderers who share a culture of death and savagery.
ZEV CHAMUDOT Petah Tikva
Idiocy on steroids
Your editorial “Reacting to terrorism” (October 6) suggests that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have an equal responsibility for ending the “cycle of violence.”
First, there is no “cycle of violence” – there is Arab violence that is encouraged and exacerbated by Abbas. The Israeli response is enhanced police activity, not violence. Second, responsibility for calming the situation lies 100 percent with Abbas. Netanyahu’s responsibility is to defend the lives and freedom of movement of Israeli citizens.
Further on, your editorial warns of a new cycle of violence should we, heaven forfend, try to defend our lives by increasing the forces allocated to that end. This is idiocy on steroids. When terrorism is claiming lives on a daily basis, it is imperative that our government apply whatever measures are necessary – however extreme and however politically incorrect they might appear to left-wing commentators – to crush the evil forces ranged against us.
Finally, you piously suggest that we should talk before it’s too late. Again, it’s the PA, not Israel, that has refused to talk without preconditions, doing so for years.
The Jerusalem Post should look at the facts as they are, not as it pretends them to be.
STEPHEN COHEN Ma’aleh Adumim
Countering bias
I was appalled to read in “BBC bias” (Editorial, October 7) of “four elderly congregants axed to death during morning services in a west Jerusalem synagogue, well within Israel proper” (my emphasis).
This, in an editorial castigating foreign news media for their mendacious reporting of atrocities here.
One can only infer that The Jerusalem Post believes there is somewhere called “Israel improper,” presumably the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria. Your language opens the way for foreign media to make the very distinctions you yourself deplore: between settlers and other Israelis.
Our enemies, of course, regard all of this country as disputed territory, or “Israel improper.”
MERVYN DOOBOV Jerusalem
“BBC bias” notes the twisted coverage by the British public broadcaster and other Western news outlets of the latest murders of Israelis, highlighting the hubris of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and other government decision-makers in emasculating the IBA’s English-language news.
Our English-language news broadcasts are now disappearing.
These myopic decision-makers have dealt another blow to our desperate need for what no other reliable English-language news source can provide to a world audience: a voice from Israel.
The argument that listeners can go to the Internet is phony. People want broadcast news in real time. We might as well turn to Al Jazeera – or even the biased BBC – to get the news. That will be the inevitable result.
Whether it’s our bumbling Foreign Ministry or arrogant cabinet ministers who think they know what’s good for Israel in the PR sphere, we are always knocked out of the ring in the first round.
When will they ever learn?
JAN GAINES Netanya
There are a lot of things about Israel of which I am justly proud.
One is the IBA’s English News service.
Why would anyone want to end the helpful and positive presentation of Israel? Arieh O’Sullivan, Erin Viner, Laura Cornfield and the rest are doing an excellent job, under difficult circumstances, in presenting to the English-speaking public an honest presentation of the news.
It’s not broken, so don’t fix it.
LEONARD KAHN Zichron Ya’acov
Great supplement
 I wish to thank editor Amy Spiro for the wonderful Simhat Torah supplement (October 4).
I especially enjoyed the articles and photos of the shuls from around the world, but all the pieces were interesting and appropriate for the holiday.
RUTH SCHWARTZ Jerusalem
Nursing leadership
I was pleased to hear about Inbar (“Cultivating medical leaders,” Health & Science, September 27), a joint project of MAOZ and the Health Ministry aimed at developing a new generation of medical leadership in Israel.
While I wholeheartedly agree that medical leadership here, and often in other developed countries, is coincidental rather than by design, the same is true in nursing leadership.
Just as in medicine, nurses often advance due to seniority or personal connections – and even due to a lack of interested applicants.
In Israel, they have been historically plagued with a lack of willingness to take on more responsibility, to advance from within, and to formulate professional leadership based on innovation, creativity and inclusiveness.
As nurses in Israel – 48,500-strong – outnumber physicians and are often the front-line care providers in hospitals and community settings, advanced leadership training is urgently required to promote a new generation of nursing leaders here.
Nurses often work with the most vulnerable populations, deal with interdisciplinary decision-making teams and provide care and education to patients, families and communities. Incidental or coincidental leadership will simply not suffice as we move deeper into the 21st century.
I do hope that Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman and the entire ministry will decide to prioritize special training for a new generation of nursing leaders so that our professionals can have progressive leadership to attain these goals for the sake of the country’s healthcare.
ELIANA MARCUS AARON Nof Ayalon
The writer has a Ph.D. in nursing leadership, management and policy from Yale University, and is director of EMA Care Israel.
No ‘bind’ there
As a member of the executive board of Austria’s main synagogue, the Stadttempel, I can assure you that “Austrian Jews in bind over donation to anti-Israel NGO” (September 18) is a complete and total lie, not more and not less.
Caritas Austria was founded by a baptized Jew (Leopold Unger). It is headed by Michael Landau, a Catholic priest and son of our late community member Erwin Landau.
Landau is absolutely aware of the fact that his ancestors were Levites. He is acting as the good son of his late Jewish father. His feelings are with us and with Israel.
The Jerusalem Post as well as the Simon Wiesenthal Center are taking stories from persons who are not trustful. Austria’s Jewish community is among the strongest fighters against anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. That is a fact.
MICHAEL SCHNARCH Vienna
Benjamin Weinthal responds: I stand by my reporting.