This is the PLO’s true goal, not attaining a peaceful state living side-by-side with Israel.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)In their DNAYour March 12 issue features two items that report on German antisemitism. One concerns two German newspapers that include our prime minister among a list of seven “mad dictators” (“German newspapers: Netanyahu is a dictator like Khameini”); the other reports on public BDS activity in Bonn (“BDS event triggers outrage in German city”).Regarding both situations, our reflexive army of government and non-government apparatchiks sprang into action demanding a stop to this overt antisemitism. Apparently, they were shocked – shocked! Let’s get real. Do they honestly think that antisemitism can be stopped in Germany, especially where it is transmitted in that nation’s very DNA? Jew hatred is the single most important reason for the existence of our Jewish state. To feign surprise every time the scorpion behaves according to its nature is absurd. Even more absurd is deluding ourselves into believing that things in Germany have changed fundamentally when they have not changed at all, only that today the vocal hate comes mostly from the Left.Realpolitik may compel us to do business with the Germans, but it’s high time we all grew up and accepted reality. In the long term, we’ll be a lot safer.YOHANAN AV-YAIRJerusalem Very interestingIn your March 12 editorial “Sound and fury,” you note that in place of the proposed “Muezzin law,” the police recommend “stricter enforcement in areas of mixed populations that receive a high number of noise complaints.”Very interesting.The reason the law has been proposed is because the police have not been enforcing noise regulations against pre-dawn calls to prayer. In other words, the police are saying that there is no need for the new law because all they have to do is enforce existing noise regulations – which they don’t.DAVID GLEICHERJerusalemThat’s no solutionReader Richard H. Schwartz espouses a position that continues to be embraced by some in spite of a total lack of factual underpinning (“Benefits of 2 states,” Letters, March 10).No evidence exists that a twostate solution would “reduce terrorism and the threat of war.”On the contrary, the Palestinian Authority is a terrorist entity. It actively fosters violence against Israel and seeks to weaken it.This is the PLO’s true goal, not attaining a peaceful state living side-by-side with Israel. I invite anyone who doubts this to see the PLO’s “Strategy of Stages.”This goal is not about to change, all the wishful thinking in the world notwithstanding.Strengthening the PLO and the Palestinian Authority by allowing them to morph into a state would only increase the risks for Israel. It is simply not realistic to believe that such a state would permit IDF troops to pursue terrorists within its borders; the terrorists would have a free hand.There is additionally the fact that turning Samaria’s highlands over to the Palestinians would put Ben-Gurion Airport and major Israeli population centers at risk of rocket attacks. Could it be that Gaza has already been forgotten? Hamas is waiting eagerly to take down the PA and gain control of Judea and Samaria, too.ARLENE KUSHNERJerusalemThere are several pragmatic options open to solving the problem, but a two-state solution is not one of them.If our government would simply claim sovereignty over the whole territory that is legally ours (as per the Mandate for Palestine, which is still in effect), it would not mean annexation.Nor would it change the status quo. It would make reaching a solution easier: There would be no “Palestinian land” in the heart of Israel and there would be no “disputed territories.”One pragmatic option could be two autonomous Palestinian regions on our soil, over which we could keep order. The world and the UN could not then accuse us of building illegal settlements or blockading the Gazans.The Arabs would have to put up or shut up.EDMUND JONAHRishon Lezion Women in the IDF With regard to “Rabbi denounced from all quarters for remarks against women in the IDF” (March 9), Yigal Levinstein (I refuse to use the title “rabbi”) has insulted a wide section of Israel’s population – loyal, patriotic Zionists whose children serve in the IDF.As a mother and grandmother of male and female soldiers, I fear for their safety and pray daily for them. But one thing I do not fear is for their integrity, their honor and their values as traditional Jews.My daughter was a pioneer on a border kibbutz when she served in Nahal, and her daughter, now doing vital social work helping soldiers from disadvantaged families, was recognized as a Soldier of Excellence. My son’s daughter was so successful in the educational job she was doing in the army that she was made an officer.Far from being tainted by her army experiences, my daughter graduated from university, married a man who shares her values, holds a successful job and has three children. As my granddaughters finish their army service, they aim for a university education and hope to meet soul mates who will respect what they have contributed to this country. They and my younger grandchildren are all clean-living and proud of our country.We all bitterly resent the likes of Levinstein, who should never be allowed anywhere near an educational or military facility.WENDY BLUMFIELDHaifaThe writer is author of an anthology The Soldiers’ Mother and Other Life Experiences.Litzman’s smokescreen There is no doubt that the failure of the minister of health to restrict the distribution of the iQOS e-cigarette (he’s waiting for a decision by the American FDA) is not just a serious matter, it frankly is suspicious (“Organizations slam Litzman for allowing sale of iQOS heated, smokeless cigarettes,” March 2).Clearly, Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman has been “persuaded” by Philip Morris, manufacturer of the e-cigarette, that there is no harm. In my view, his ties with the tobacco industry should be investigated.There is no chance the government will intervene – coalition politics are supreme, even when the nation’s health is at stake – but the media ought to further publicize what is a real scandal, more so as Litzman is reluctant even to adopt the type of warning on cigarette packaging that is mandatory in the western world.RAYMOND CANNONNetanya‘Jewish’ time On March 24, 16 days before Pessah, we will move our clocks to summer time. Why on that date? Because Europe is switching over.The Europeans hate us and fund NGOs that work against us, but nevertheless they have summer time, so we, too, must switch over. We demand that the world recognize us as the “Jewish state,” but then we act like all the others.The Seder on Pessah is really for the young children, but this one-hour difference makes it much more difficult for them to stay awake.The only time we had a Jewish summer time was when then-interior minister Zevulun Hammer started it at 2 a.m. on the second night of Pessah, when tourists had finished their second Seder; it gave people the rest of the festival to adjust to the time change.When will we start acting like the Jewish state and ignore the rest of the world – which ignores us most of the time in any case?MENACHEM DAYAGITel Aviv
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
