Letters to the Jerusalem Report

Neutral zones Kobi Michael’s proposal for “Reconstructing Gaza” (May 18) by creating “neutral protected zones” that were employed during the Korean War relies on an assumption that history tells us cannot be made. Israel would have to trust that Hamas would respect the neutral and protected status of those zones, and Hamas has never shown that such trust is deserved.More likely, Hamas will use those areas to store munitions, stage raids and launch rockets, knowing that if the Israelis retaliate in those areas, international condemnation will rain down along with the rockets, condemnation that will, of course, not be directed at Hamas for their precipitating violation.I cannot conceive of any reliable guarantee that Hamas could offer that they wouldn’t abrogate in the blink of an eye. They have shown time and again that they lack any semblance of honor.Steven Barrer Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania What should Israel’s response be to a tunnel built under a “neutral protected zone”? Craig Brown Hod Hasharon Diaspora delusions Londoner Daniel Baum accuses Australian Danny Ben-Moshe in a letter (June 10) of suffering from Diaspora delusions.I too am now in London, but I served many years in the IDF and have three ribbons on my uniform to prove it. However, I too have the same delusions! Jews should not become permanent overlords over the Palestinian people.Yes, a Palestinian state is a risk, but Jews are risk-takers from way back and living in a state of semi-warfare with our cousins is not a brilliant solution. We should never ever become a permanent occupying power.Dr. Cornel Fleming London Controversial rulings Amir Fuchs, in “Override: A serious blow to democracy” (June 1), should be aware that in the case of the UK, it was prime minister Tony Blair who in 1998 decided to place the European Court of Human Rights at the apex of the British legal system by getting Parliament to enact the Humans Rights Act.Since then there has been a stream of controversial rulings, such as suspected terrorists escaping extradition and illegal migrants avoiding repatriation. That has led the new Conservative government to commit to end judges engaging in judicial activism through scrapping the 1998 law. There was no crisis in civil freedoms in the UK, a country with no written constitution, which triggered the 1998 legislation, just a crisis in democratic legitimacy by shifting powers from MPs to judges, thereby widening the gap between rulers and ruled.This is even more the case in Israel when judges allowed themselves to seize equivalent powers without any democratic underpinning whatsoever.Peter Simpson Jerusalem Desire to be in sync Relating to the recent correspondence about Open Hillel, I regard this organization as a junior version of J Street and, regardless of their public agendas, I believe they are both anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist.   Open Hillel’s adult leaders seek to bend young minds to their slanted version of Zionism, Judaism and Israel.Regardless of how many issues of The Jerusalem Report or The Jerusalem Post with their pro-Zionist and pro-Israel slants are sent to university libraries, I’ll bet few are checked out by Jewish students. A problem on American state school campuses is the students’ desire to assimilate and to be in sync with non-Jews – all to their own and Judaism’s detriment, leaving them prey to Open Hillel.Herman Ginsberg Cedar Rapids, Iowa Send letters by email to: jrepletters@jreport.co.il Please include your full postal address. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as appropriate. Priority will be given to brief letters that relate to articles in the magazine.