November 19: An act of war

The Israeli government should declare war on the PA.

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters (photo credit: REUTERS)
Letters
(photo credit: REUTERS)
An act of war
French President François Hollande has the right idea (“France vows to destroy terrorism, seeks global coalition against ISIS,” November 17).
The attacks in Paris constitute an act of war against France, and so Hollande has declared war on the perpetrators. Likewise, the terrorist killings of Israeli civilians in and around Jerusalem in recent months constitute an act of war against Israel by Palestinians under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
As such, the Israeli government should declare war on the PA.
Once war is declared, we, as Hollande himself has said, must be “ruthless” in destroying terrorism.
Let there be no mistake: It is them or us. All measures must be taken to once and for all destroy this crazy idea that 1) we Jews have no right to be here and 2) terrorism in any form can defeat us.
There needs to be a full Israeli war against Islamic terrorism.
JACK S. COHEN
Netanya
There can be no doubt that the Muslim terrorists who kill and maim Jewish Israelis act not out of hopelessness, as has been claimed, but out of hope. This hope is not so much the hope for a Palestinian State, as Education Minister Naftali Bennett posits (“Bennett: It’s either Israel or ISIS in the West Bank,” November 17), but the hope to drive all the Jews into the sea.
In the 1920s, long before there was a Jewish state, the imams cried out from their mosques to murder Jews, as they do today.
Then, as now, Jews were targeted.
As long as they believe there is a chance to achieve their goal, the violence will continue.
A state of their own is a milestone in their greater goal of making this land free of Jews.
Once they despair of these evil intentions, the violence will end.
So, too, is the case with Islamic State. It’s members have delusions of conquering the world.
They must be convinced of the hopelessness of their cause. Any conciliatory actions will embolden them in their madness.
Either their hope is crushed, or western civilization as we know it will be lost.
SHARON LINDENBAUM
Rehovot
The US has its 9/11. France now has its 11/13. But Israel has its 24/7.
The Western countries have gone out of their way to give Palestinian terrorists a free ride while castigating Israel for defending itself. This couldn’t have been made clearer by the recent statements of Sweden’s foreign minister. This, along with the signing of an outrageous agreement with Iran that gives the Islamic Republic billions of dollars to support its terrorist actions in the Middle East, has given the unofficial go-ahead to all Islamic terrorists.
The current wave of terrorism will not stop until the West recognizes that Israel faces the same Islamic mentality as that of Islamic State. Then, and only then, will it be able to clamp down on terrorism in general.
There is no such thing as a “good terrorist.”
BILL WEBER
Jerusalem
The president of the United States lives on a different planet.
He has not yet truly accepted that there are forces of evil – groups that do not play by the rules of civilized society, people he cannot talk to and persuade that evil wrongdoing should not be undertaken.
Barack Obama is a pacifist in a changing world. It is possible that his lack of participation against these forces may provide us with a margin of safety? It is possible that because this country has been on the sidelines of the battle we have not felt the terror that France feels? Should we play an isolationist role? Is it morally right? I envision the nations of the world providing the army that eventually battles ISIS on the ground. I don’t think air strikes will be enough. To rid us of this international threat, we need forces on the ground. Unfortunately, 50 US soldiers on the ground are an embarrassment. It indicates Obama’s lack of commitment to the battle.
Let us make no mistake: We, the forces of sanity, civility and reason, are at war with an incredible evil, a radicalism that, if not stopped, will change governments and enslave people.
We must join forces and totally commit ourselves to the battle before the enemy becomes stronger. We have much to preserve.
MARILYN GINSBURG
Lake Worth, Florida
Plan for Syria
As American, western European and Russian interests in Syria begin to converge – because of Islamic State successes in the region and abroad – perhaps the following proposition should be offered to Russian President Vladimir Putin by the West: Syrian President Bashar Assad stays, provided the flow of all arms through Syria is terminated.
Save for Iran, which would then be isolated, the other powers in the region – Egypt, Israel and Turkey – would most likely support this. It would permit a major offensive against ISIS to be launched by combined American, western European and Russian assets.
IRA SOHN
New York
Sweden’s gone sour
It is totally incomprehensible that the foreign minister of Sweden, which oppresses its own indigenous people, the Sami (Laplanders), justifies terrorism (“Jerusalem blasts Sweden’s ‘hostile’ linking of Paris attacks to Palestinian conflict,” November 17).
Sweden has not adopted International Labor Organization Convention 169, which calls to restore the Sami people’s right to their land and natural resources. Currently, the Samis’ rights in Sweden are banned. Subsequently, according to Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom’s “logic,” it would be understandable and quite justified by Sweden’s Sami population to commit acts of terrorism.
Being a Swedish citizen, I am deeply disappointed that the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs is headed by someone who is ignorant and expresses anti-Semitic rhetoric.
ERWIN PAVEL
Ra’anana
This is a letter from Sweden, a Sweden where Israel does have many friends but, unfortunately, the foreign minister lacks knowledge, ethics and values. As a Swede, I want to apologize for Margot Wallstrom’s statement regarding the terror in Paris, in which she invoked the “suffering of the Palestinians.”
The news media here also give a very wrong picture of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. In fact, they give mostly just one picture, and from this, the average Swede bases his or her opinions.
There are politicians and others in Sweden who support Israel, but they/we are too few. Nevertheless, we are proud and thankful to be able to call ourselves friends of Israel.
There will be a program of support for Israel in my home town this coming Saturday. It is just one small thing we can do.
EWA JONSSON
 Jonkoping, Sweden
Cause and effect
 With regard to “Poll: 75% of British Jews think settlements block peace” (November 16), 100 percent of UK Jewry should instead be more concerned about their own future in that country.
What has happened in France to French Jews during past 10 years is happening now in the UK. Oddly, there are no settlements in either France or the UK.
MORDECAI SCHARF
Efrat
CLARIFICATION
Due to a reporting error, “Israel to join task force to combat financing of global terror” (November 3) should have stated that Israel had made steps toward joining the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force but had not yet been selected for membership. The headline therefore should have been “Israel moves closer to joining task force to combat financing of global terror.”