March 27: Back to Iran

Is it felt that despite the clear evidence of Iran’s animus and belligerence toward Israel, the appropriate response is to say we love you?

By JERUSALEM POST READERS
Letters 521 (photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
Letters 521
(photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
Back to Iran Sir, – I was dismayed as well as perplexed when reading “1,000 march in Tel Aviv against war with Iran” (March 25). Is it felt that despite the clear evidence of Iran’s animus and belligerence toward Israel, the appropriate response is to say we love you (“Israeli couple reaches out to Iranians with a Facebook campaign of love, March 19)? The protest against Israel going to war against Iran seems rather bizarre in face of the fact that Iran repeatedly calls for the destruction of Israel and is, in reality, already responsible for acts of war and terror against it and Jews abroad. It is worth noting that there has never been, and in all likelihood never will be, a parallel march in Tehran against war with Israel.
If the purpose of the march in Tel Aviv was to reemphasize Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s declaration during the blood-soaked American Civil War that “war is hell,” a war against a nuclear-armed and crazy state of Iran would be nothing short of Armageddon and the end of civilization as we know it.
ZEV CHAMUDOT Petah Tikva
Sir, – Labor MK and former defense minister Amir Peretz thinks it would be better if the US attacked Iran as opposed to having Israel do it (“Peretz: Number of Iron Domes not enough for country’s defense,” March 25).
Excuse me while I recover my lower jaw.
If Peretz actually believes another war in the Middle East is just what the doctor ordered, I believe he is suffering from delusional thinking. After all, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq worked out so well.
The consequences of an attack on Iran won’t be like any of the above. Iran is more capable of defending itself than we give it credit for, and the repercussions throughout the Muslim world will make the current epidemic of terrorism pale in comparison.
When the dust has settled over the rubble, Israel may be the only winner, and the expense will be borne by the US. This is not a scenario I am willing to accept as an American.
RON SLADE, SR.
Covington, Georgia
Sir, – With all the discussion about Iran’s nuclear bomb-making capacity, very little has been said about what the recent escalation in Gaza demonstrates .
What will happen after Israel knocks out the Iranian nuclear threat? I live in Safed, which will be ground zero for Hezbollah’s retaliation. We are a fixed target, not dug in or sheltered.
I am fully in favor of a preemptive strike on Iran – if Iran were to get the nuclear bomb, how would we be able to retaliate or deter Hamas and Hezbollah? But the understanding must be that if we are forced to strike out at either Hamas or Hezbollah, we must end those threats once and for all.
DAVID WILLIG Safed
Can’t separate Sir, – Mideast scholar Asher Susser recommends that Israel voluntarily separate itself from its Palestinian neighbors (“Expert: Israel should unilaterally disengage from Palestinians to prevent binational state,” March 25).
Columnist Ray Hanania has made much the same argument (“Maybe Palestinians and Israelis need a break from each other,” Yalla Peace, March 21). The idea (at least according to Hanania) is that Israel would create an autonomous Palestinian entity along the pre-1967 Green Line, either removing all Jews over the line or leaving them totally undefended.
Unfortunately, neither article explains exactly what the Palestinians would be expected to do in return. This looks suspiciously like Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, which has been such a resounding success.
Susser can offer no guarantee that the Palestinians would not use their new-found autonomy as an opportunity to launch an armed effort to reunify all of “Palestine.” His suggestion mirrors the PA’s expressed ultimate goal (as long as its real goal is not the destruction of the Jewish state).
It will be only a matter of time before the PA seeks UN recognition of its independent nation on land that Israel has already vacated. There will be no need for the Palestinians ever to return to negotiations because there will be nothing left to discuss.
As appealing as it may seem at first, the answer to the ongoing dispute is not total separation – certainly not a separation based on the demands of only one side. The answer lies in direct face-to-face talks in which the needs of both sides are openly discussed and fully considered.
EFRAIM A. COHEN Zichron Ya’acov
More important things Sir, – So Hadassah now has boasting rights over a brand-spanking-new tower of medical ministration (“Putting the hotel into the hospital,” Health, March 25). Perhaps now it can locate my MRI results, which it felt no shame in simply losing three months ago.
Despite repeated requests by my doctor, the mother management of the mighty medical ziggurat just can’t be bothered.
Look up and be proud.
DAVID SCHOLEM Ra’anana
Remember a friend Sir, – The media, newspapers, radio and TV have generally ignored the fascinating story of British Maj.-Gen. Orde Charles Wingate. Thus, it was a pleasure to read Michael Freund’s “Remembering a Christian warrior for Zion” (Fundamentally Freund, March 25).
For several decades, Jerusalem Post 180 of the Jewish War Veterans (the oldest war veterans organization in the US) has observed Wingate’s yahrzeit. In a major effort some years ago we invited Wingate’s son and two granddaughters to Israel. It was a very successful program.
On March 22, we held a Wingate memorial service at Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill. The major address was given by Moshe Yegar, a retired ambassador who is writing a book about him. There was a representative from the US Embassy, but there was no one representing Great Britain, or Ethiopia or Burma (Myanmar), where Wingate led British forces.
It is a pity that the Israeli public, especially our youth, do not know the story of Orde Wingate.
ARNOLD SULLUM Jerusalem
Sir, – I’m grateful to Michael Freund for his beautiful tribute to Orde Wingate. What a shame that more in the British government and military don’t share Wingate’s beliefs and sense of love for Israel and the Jewish people.
It’s a fitting time to remember Wingate in light of the recent visit of Pastor John Hagee and several hundred members of Christians United for Israel (CUFI). It’s nothing short of kiddush hashem (the sanctification of God’s name) that CUFI just enrolled its millionth member and came to celebrate and show solidarity in the streets of Jerusalem.
Closer to home there are several Christian Zionist organizations with a permanent or long-term presence in Israel that are carrying forward the mission of Wingate and the biblical mandate to bless Israel. One is the Christian Friends of Israel, which was founded with help from Orde Wingate’s cousin, Col. Orde Dobbie.
Jews and Christians share a common foundation in our respective faiths, and never before have we stood so closely together in partnership and fellowship to both sanctify God and stand against enemies that threaten us and our respective faiths. I have had the privilege of working with many such Christian Zionists, whom I prefer just to call my friends.
May the tradition of Orde Wingate carry on in the work of Christian Friends of Israel, CUFI and others, and may we always remember Wingate and our debt to him for his sacrifices.
JONATHAN FELDSTEIN
Efrat