December 25: Handle with care

"Readers should certainly emulate bus passenger David Pappo in reporting suspicious objects..."

By JERUSALEM POST READERS
Letters 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Letters 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Handle with care
Sir, – With regard to “Passengers escape Bat Yam bus shortly before bomb explodes” (December 23), readers should certainly emulate bus passenger David Pappo in reporting suspicious objects, such as the unattended bag on the Bat Yam bus. But they should not open them. A bomb can be wired to explode when the package containing it is opened.
MARK L. LEVINSON
Herzliya
Important fact
Sir, – With reference to “US spying gives momentum to effort to free Jonathan Pollard” (December 23) and many other articles on the same matter, I should like to recall that at the time of trial, Caspar Weinberger, the American secretary of defense, swore he would fix things so that Pollard would never, under any circumstances, be set free.
I find it odd that no one mentions this very important fact.
R. RAUCHWERGER Kfar Saba
Look elsewhere
Sir, – In “Jews, Muslims, Christians rally in Jerusalem against ‘price tag’ attacks” (December 23), Tovah Lazaroff quotes the demonstrators as demanding that these attacks be classified as acts of terrorism.
I agree wholeheartedly that the police should do whatever is necessary to prevent these despicable acts – though to equate them with terror attacks, where people are actually killed or injured, smacks of hyperbole.
Since apart from a few out-of-control teenagers nobody has been apprehended, it is possible that the police are looking in the wrong places. If one considers who actually gains from such attacks, it is clearly the innocent victims whose plight arouses almost universal sympathy. So it is not beyond the bounds of probability that these crimes are being committed by Palestinian agents provocateurs or their “useful idiot” Jewish allies of the Left.
Perhaps, if the police follow this line of reasoning they will be more successful in catching the offenders.
MARTIN D. STERN Salford, UK
Missing data
Sir, – In “Integrated schools: An island of hope for a pluralistic society” (Comment & Features, December 23), Aliza Gershon tells us everything except specific facts about the schools. Where are they located? How many pupils attend? What grade levels are covered? What is the rate of growth of their enrollment? And most importantly, what is the difference between their curriculum and that of the state secular and religious schools? I don’t doubt that they are successful in promoting understanding among diverse groups, but I would like to know how they do it and, overall, what percentage of our children they are serving.
DAVID FEIGENBAUM Netanya
Skinning a cat
Sir, – The cliché “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit” is not entirely without foundation with regard to Harold Goldmeier’s pithy tonguein- cheek observation (“Netanyahu’s secret plan for economic stimulus,” Your Business, December 23).
Instead of criticizing the indulgent overspending inherent within the prime minister’s household, the emphasis should be directed toward his doctrine of securing jobs, thus effectively dealing with financial shortfalls in the economy and once again proving his expertise and sleight of hand.
Yes indeed, there are many ways to skin a cat!
GISH TRUMAN ROBBINS Pardesiya
Headache of peace
Sir, – In regard to “Arab League stance locks horns with Kerry proposals” (December 22), instead of demanding only an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should state that the settlements, with their 7,000-10,000 residents, will become part of Israel.
This will eliminate the negative responses of the Palestinians and the Arab League.
This approach has been stated by leaders going back as far as the late 1960s. It would now save a lot of headaches with all parties.
MURRAY JOSEPH Kiryat Motzkin
Sir, – We are being pressured by America to get to a peace agreement seemingly at any cost.
I believe the time has come to simplify matters and have our government take the stand that unless the Palestinian Authority is willing and ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, we will leave the peace talks. If it cannot agree to this fundamental point, we really don’t have anyone to talk to.
SAMUEL DERSHOWITZ Jerusalem
Going soft
Sir, – I was less than thrilled when I looked at the front page of your December 22 issue and saw the photo of four mourning Arab women of Gaza accompanying the article “One killed, four wounded in clashes near Gaza border.”
The women were described by the caption as relatives of the Arab man who was killed by the IDF while he tried to plant a bomb at the border fence. Frankly, I don’t see why you need to include photos of our enemies’ funerals. How was this instructive? And, on the front page, no less.
Since the article spoke about quite a few recent attempts at bomb placements and movements by other Arabs in the area of the Gaza border fence, maybe a photo of some IDF jeeps scouring the area might have been more appropriate, if a photo was actually necessary.
Is The Jerusalem Post becoming soft?
MARCIA KATZ Ma’aleh Adumim
Steel yourself
Sir, – Martin Sherman’s hair-raising “Infuriating, insidious, immoral” (Into the Fray, December 20) examines the anti-Zionist concepts – perhaps especially exemplified by unilateral withdrawal – which could easily become part of the political discourse in the near future.
The column is doubly frightening because in The Jerusalem Post Magazine of the same date, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s “When an order must be defied” (Parashat Shamot) states that Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik ruled that the elected government of Israel has the right to decide whether sacrificing land for peace is operable and under what conditions. Such a decision must be governmental and not individual.
Rabbi Riskin discusses defying a governmental order, such as Pharaoh’s daughter did. However, the implication, according to Rabbi Soloveitchik, is that if the elected Israeli government would adopt anti-Zionist concepts, such as a unilateral withdrawal, it would have to be obeyed.
Mr. Sherman intends to give a more detailed analysis in the future. I don’t know if I will have the guts to read it.
SIMCHA RUDMAN Jerusalem Banker accomplices
Sir, – It appears to me that the bank managers who were involved with the Dankners (“Dan Dankner sentence by TA court to one year in prison,” December 20; “Court ruling wrests control of IDB from Nochi Dankner,” December 18) are not so very antiseptic either, and should pay back all those bonuses they received, and maybe some more.
If they are not guilty of having pandered to the Dankners, they are accessories and should not be wealthy on the backs of the public they are supposedly serving.
MURRAY S. GREENFIELD Tel Aviv
Road radio
Sir, – It is a truism that bad behavior and bad driving are synonymous.
There can be no one who has not seen and experienced examples of disgusting behavior and driving on our roads.
I would submit that Israeli radio stations have a negative influence on the state of mind of our drivers.
Witness the many blaring advertisements that involve someone screaming or shouting as if this were the only way to penetrate the mind of the listener.
Couple this with the tasteless and loud music that abounds and it is no wonder that drivers are left agitated and anxious, hardly a state of mind conducive to disciplined and safe driving.
It would be a great step forward in the fight against dangerous driving to have a radio station for drivers featuring relaxing music, no frenetic ads and no inflammatory or provocative chat shows.
DAVID S. ADDLEMAN Mevaseret Zion