Hadassah discord
Sir, – As life members of Hadassah both in the US and Israel,
we take issue with the tone of “Senior execs at Hadassah trade accusations over
misuse of funds” (February 9).
We have known Marcie Nathan for many years
and can testify as to the universal popularity of her selection as national
president.
She would never “buy support from members by upgrading their
flights to business class and extending trips to Israel.” We resent the
implication that she would have to do so.
As for Nancy Falchuk, we find
it ridiculous that she had to take furniture from her office for personal use.
She and her husband are quite comfortable financially.
Our feeling is
that this was a petty issue blown up by the
Forward, and perhaps a matter of
sour grapes on the part of COO Larry Blum. We have known previous COOs
personally and none had any issues with the Hadassah presidents they
served.
It is very disturbing to us that when Hadassah is still working
hard to complete its new hospital tower, one disgruntled person can call the
whole enterprise into question. It’s shameful that the media, including the
Post, can publish accusations from one person that we feel are totally
unfounded.
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JANICE GAINES MARIAN BURCK Netanya
Foreign language Sir, –
While extolling “clarity of thought” and “clarity of language” (“Words matter: A
new language for peace,” Comment & Features, February 9), John
V.
Whitbeck himself exhibits signs of inhabiting an alternative
universe.
As he was an advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team, he
seems to have been completely brainwashed. Why he would choose to publish such
nonsense in your newspaper is quite perplexing.
Perhaps he thinks it’s
still
The Palestine Post.RICHARD D. WILKINS Syracuse, New York
Sir, –
Here is my version of the Palestinian political lexicon and what is actually
meant.
Peace: No Israel. A just and lasting peace: No Israel, nor ever a
chance of there being one. Concessions: You give everything, we give
nothing.
Painful: What you must always and we must never
experience.
Far-reaching: Totally unreasonable, going beyond the scope of
anything yet imagined. Compromise: You always give, we always
take.
Justice: Letting us always have our way. Injustice: Not letting us
have our way. Freedom of speech: Letting those who agree with us say what they
want.
Racism: Letting those who disagree with us say what they want.
Human rights: What every Muslim is entitled to and every non-Muslim
isn’t.
STEPHEN DUZZY Haifa
Another holiday! Sir, – You write that the IDF
needs an additional NIS 4 billion in order to complete its full training
schedule (“No fooling: IDF faces near-shutdown on April 1,” February
8).
Why not ask Mark Zuckerberg and Roman Abramovich for the money? They
are worth a combined $50b. easy. To them, NIS 4b. is small change.
I am
sure the Israeli government could dream up something with which to compensate
them – an annual Abramovich-Zuckerberg day, maybe.
At this dangerous
time, mere money must not be allowed to inhibit the excellence of Israel’s
fighting forces.
DAVID LEE London
Bitter taste Sir, – Matan Vilna’i has
led a long and illustrious career and will no doubt be a worthy diplomat
(“Vilna’i set to be next envoy to China,” February 8).
However, at 68
years old, he is one year past the mandatory retirement age for diplomats who
have served their country for decades.
Politics is politics, but
sometimes it leaves a bitter taste.
MICHELLE MAZEL Jerusalem
The writer
is a former chairperson of ANAM (Association of Diplomatic Wives of Israel) Two
of a kind Sir, – In “Unity of peace” (Editorial, February 8) you write: “The
only problem with all of this unity is that Hamas remains an anti-Semitic
terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel.”
Do you
mean to imply that Fatah is different?
MERVYN DOOBOV Jerusalem
Why no visits?
Sir, – In expounding the reason why the queen, and not the Archbishop of
Canterbury, is the symbolic head of the Anglican community (“Credit where due,”
Letters, February 8), perhaps it would be more apt to question why, after 60
years on the throne, Elizabeth II has never visited Israel despite numerous
visits abroad to non-commonwealth countries.
The decision to undertake
overseas visits rests with the prime minister, acting in consultation with the
Foreign and Commonwealth offices. Do not Cameron, Clegg and Hague consider there
is an opportunity for the UK monarch to visit the Holy Land once in her
lifetime? Certainly, Cameron’s predecessors, Brown and Blair, professed on
numerous occasions that they were true friends of Israel, yet not once did they
authorize such a visit.
Indeed, as representative of the Quartet, Tony
Blair has been pushing Israel to make numerous gestures and concessions to
further a “peace process,” resulting in less reciprocity and more stringent
demands from the other side.
Blair’s track record speaks for itself,
resulting in economic chaos in the UK and a failed foreign policy of military
intervention, as was revealed to the Chilcot Enquiry.
Israel’s presidents
have not once been invited for a state visit to the UK, despite numerous such
visits by dictators and recently deposed quasi-monarchs and heads of state – as
if the Jewish state is a pariah. Private visits by our presidents have taken
place, but without ceremonial state courtesies normally accredited to visiting
heads of state, and through the back door, well outside the public limelight.
Nevertheless, they have extended invitations to the monarch to make a state
visit here.
Is it that the Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of
the Church of England has been advised that it is not acceptable, despite such
visits here by the head of the Catholic Church?
COLIN L. LECI Jerusalem
No to
reform Sir, – Isi Leibler regrets “The erosion of Israeli leadership” (Candidly
Speaking, February 8). Who doesn’t? But where can we still find people of
principle in the Knesset? It seems they are not leading the big parties, which
would benefit from the usual schemes of electoral reform; on the contrary, they
are in the small parties that would suffer.
While it is true that small
parties can cause coalition pains, it was not pressure from them that forced
recent prime ministers to make friends with slimy plutocrats, flipflop on
international policy or fly junkets around the globe. That was our bigwigs’ own
inclination.
We can be thankful that our electoral system was not
reformed to give their miserable regimes more staying power.
MARK L.
LEVINSON Herzliya
Acting like us Sir, – Anyone who reads The Jerusalem Post each
day is aware of such disturbing developments as piles of pickled cabbage
blocking traffic (“Frozen sauerkraut jams German highway,” Business in Brief,
February 8) and cacti suing each other in court (“Singing cactus wins courtroom
victory in copyright clash,” February 7).
I’m not saying there’s any
proven connection, but maybe there’s an urgent need for an impartial
investigation into the alleged potential dangers posed by genetically modified
crops.
YONATAN SILVER Jerusalem
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