By LETTERS TO THE EDITORUpdated: NOVEMBER 5, 2018 11:02Letters(photo credit: REUTERS)Bad dealRegarding “Abbas and Sisi meet as Gaza deal looms” (November 4), this deal being brokered with Gaza has all the ingredients of outright blackmail, with Israel being expected to grant the lifting of a host of restrictions for a veiled understanding that if we acquiesce, we get a cup-in-hand promise.If we need reminding, Israel is not the antagonist.Our border and defensive troops there are being attacked and sometimes breached, our agricultural land is being torched, and rockets have been launched on a regular basis toward the long-suffering border communities.Not least in this shameful agreement is the carrot of the return of captured civilians and soldiers’ bodies in – would you believe it? – three years.This is not a deal. It is appeasement and shames any Israeli negotiator who signs it.STEPHEN VISHNICKTel AvivBlame CanadaRegarding, “Canada’s FM talks of ‘just’ peace, avoids mentioning two-states” (October 31) What did Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland mean when she spoke of a “just” peace? Does she fear the development of an “unjust” peace, and what does she imagine might that involve?The devil is in the modifiers.As far as “standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel” goes, what exactly does Canada intend to do from this position? Israel has heard these sorts of assurances before. Let’s recall that Canada did not vote against the UN General Assembly resolution to nullify the US embassy move to Jerusalem.“Canada’s longstanding position is that the status of Jerusalem can be resolved only as part of a general settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. This has been the policy of consecutive governments, both Liberal and Conservative,” said Adam Austin, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Freeland.It is easy to stab someone in the back when standing shoulder-to-shoulder.JULIA LUTCHDavis, CABlame TrumpRegarding “President Trump’s words do not incite hate” (November 1), a Jew-hating madman opens fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue and President Donald Trump is somehow at fault. One would think that prior to Trump becoming President, America was a country where everybody sat around a campfire singing “Kumbayah.”During the Obama years there were nearly 60 incidents of what is described as mass shootings with 283 deaths as a result of these incidents.I do not recall Jewish leaders in America blaming Obama for these killings.In a country of more than 325 million people, a small number of deranged killers has to be expected.As has been proven time and again, both in Israel and in Europe, while armed guards may not prevent a lunatic intent on killing from attacking a school, house of worship, shopping mall, etc., a trained armed guard will definitely be a valuable asset in limiting the carnage of such an attack.Jewish comedians who criticized Trump for this suggestion are similarly out of touch with reality.ARTHUR MILLERBet ShemeshBy chilling coincidence, a few days after the slaughter of the 11 members of a Jewish congregation in Pittsburgh, our family was shocked to read a report in the Cape Times newspaper of “closure for the families of two martyrs.”These two “martyrs” were members of a gang of black men who brutally stabbed to death our uncle, Maurice Berger, in 1962, while in his shop located in a township near Paarl in the Cape Province. He was apparently selected to be slaughtered as he was a white and a Jewish man. These criminals were brought to justice and executed in 1967.The remains of these two men were recently reburied in a ceremony presided over by a SA justice minister, glorified and lauded as armed combatants and heroes for “a great cause,” helping their families now to find closure.No mention at all is made of the tragedy and trauma suffered by my aunt and their three young children.The Pittsburgh Jewish people gunned down mercilessly by a racist, the murder of my uncle by a black gang and the killing and stabbing to death of so many Jewish Israelis by Palestinian terrorists, are all part of continuous hateful antisemitic and racist attacks on us, only for being Jews.SAMMY BERGERRa’ananaHave a nice weekendRegarding “Time for a long weekend,” (November 1), finally an editorial from The Jerusalem Post that I wholeheartedly agree with.Having lived most of my life in America (I made aliyah in 2010 from Los Angeles), I can say that Israelis don’t know what they are missing by not having a “Sunday” every week. A day to relax, visit friends and family, shop, entertain yourselves, sleep in a little, unwind.Having a Sunday in Israel will create a whole new industry here... the leisure industry, bringing billions of shekels to the economy. It will help create better drivers on the roads the rest of the week, as people will be much more relaxed and not so uptight and frantic to get to where they are going.Having a Sunday to do all the shopping and errands might even bring Israelis closer to observing Shabbat, as they will have another day, Sunday, to do all that they currently must do on Shabbat.Since we made aliyah, my wife and I have often said that we would see our extended families here in Israel more if we still lived in America. When we visited from America, usually once a year back then, we would be sure to see everyone in our family. Now that we – thank God – live here, we only get together at major family events, missing the closeness that just hanging out together brings to the family dynamic.I hope that our government leadership finally sees the value of having a Sunday here in the Holy Land and how it will greatly improve Israeli society. Maybe then, instead of being the 11th happiest people in the world, we will be the #1 happiest people in the world!NORMAN DEROVANMa’aleh AdumimAdd more fines for ebikersRegarding “Police fine 115 electric bike users in Tel Aviv” (November 2) and the discussion on the dangers of electric bikes, I would suggest a measure than may significantly help reduce the number of incidents. A pedestrian crossing by definition means a crossing designed for walking. Therefore nobody should ride his/her bike along the “zebra,” regardless whether the bicycle is electrical or not, but dismount and walk. Severe fines should be imposed on offenders.In the past few years, driving in Israeli cities with electric bikes appearing on pedestrian crossings out of nowhere at the last moment has deteriorated the already horrible situation set by Israeli drivers who signal post-factum and have no consideration whatsoever about parking wherever they please,regardless that their illegally parked vehicles reduce the maneuverability of everyone else.Driving in Israel has truly become a nightmare!MLADEN ANDRIJASEVICBeershebaI scream at Ben & Jerry’sRegarding “Ben & Jerry’s Israel distances itself from political US flavor” (November 2), thank God that the Israeli branch has enough sense to avoid endorsing the inane decisions of the American branch, which is myopically supporting hate-spewing figures and groups that masquerade as human rights crusaders.I would hate to have to stop buying Ben & Jerry’s products to serve to my Shabbat guests.I urge the American branch to do a bit of soul searching and research before they choose their next “worthy” cause.MOSHE STEELERehovotVaccinate against ignoranceRegarding “18-month-old baby dies of measles in J’lem” (November 2), the baby was neither vaccinated against measles nor brought to a doctor for check-ups. The parents are members of Neturai Karta, an extreme stream of ultra-Orthodox Judaism and thus doubly extreme. MK Meirav Ben-Ari has initiated a bill to require (force) immunization.This is hardly enough, though. The parents should be prosecuted with the full force of the law as criminallynegligent. Social workers and the police should investigate the living and medical conditions of the other children (if there are additional children). The other children may be living underunacceptable conditions and it may not be too late to save them.YIGAL HOROWITZBeershebaThe emperor’s wishful thinkingStephen Cohen’s October 24 letter, “The emperor’s wardrobe,” has several inaccurate statements that deserve correction.First, his statement that “climate change is a natural phenomenon that has nothing to do with CO2 or human activity” is inconsistent with the overwhelming consensus of climate scientists, including virtually all the peer-reviewed articles on the topic in respected scientific journals.Second, his statement that “dire results” of severe climate events in “previous predictions have not happened” ignores the recent widespread very destructive wildfires in California and other states and the ‘monstrous’ hurricanes this year and last that devastated Houston, Florida, the Carolinas, and Puerto Rico.Third, his statement that “temperatures have not increased significantly since 1998” ignores that beside that year, all of the 18 warmest years on record have occurred in the 17 years of this century and that 2014, 2015, and 2016 successively broke temperature records.He commends Donald Trump’s positions on climate despite the fact that all of the 195 nations, including Israel, at the 2015 Paris climate conference agreed that climate change is a major threat and that immediate actions must be taken to avert a climate catastrophe.SHOSHANA DOLGIN-BE’ERJerusalemCorrectionThe name of the synagogue pictured on Page 9 of yesterday’s (November 4) paper is Beth Shalom, and not as it previously appeared.
