By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: PIXABAY)Her memory a blessingRegarding “Nation mourns as first lady Nechama Rivlin passes away at 73” (June 5), I convey my deepest sadness to the Rivlin family. The article tells those of us who should have known but didn’t how remarkable a woman and human being she was in her own right for Jews, Arabs and all people of good will everywhere who love peace.May we all support and sustain her husband, Israel’s great president and world leader Reuven Rivlin. He gives to Israel and all of us much-needed idealism and hope where there is so much violence and despair – and now he and his family must face this terrible, corrosive and paralyzing personal loss.I remember with sadness how the death of Menachem Begin’s wife Aliza broke his heart. May Nechama Rivlin’s family prevail and continue to advance in her honor and memory the family’s causes of human dignity, reconciliation and hope.JAMES ADLERCambridge, MARetaining land in Judea and SamariaI agree with US Ambassador David Friedman that Israel has the moral, historic and legal right to retain part of the West Bank (“Friedman’s ‘controversial’ comments do not diverge from traditional US policy,” June 11). Why are we Israelis so timid about asserting our right to the areas in the historic Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria that we recovered with our blood after being attacked from them in the Six Day War? We have enabled them to develop and prosper. People there are residents, not “settlers” and they live in communities and towns, not “settlements.”The Trump administration has now developed a team of uncompromising hard-hitters combined with Israel to combat dogmatists who brainwash people and obfuscate truth and reality with loaded, false terms such as “appropriation, deportation, genocide and ethnic cleansing.” Even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with his legal problems, has not fulfilled his electoral promise to annex Area C, it should not alter US President Donald Trump’s Middle East policy, as supported by Friedman.JACK DAVISJerusalem The recent reported statement by US Ambassador David Friedman that Israel has the right to retain “some parts” of Judea and Samaria makes one wonder if Friedman understands by what right the Jewish people claims our ancient and reborn homeland. The Bible clearly illustrates that God deeded the entire land to Abraham, the first Jew, and to his seed for eternity.Therefore, for Friedman to declare that only part of Judea and Samaria, the heart of Eretz Yisrael, should be retained, is foolish at best and disingenuous at worst.SHIFRA HOFFMAN, FOUNDERThe Victims of Arab TerrorPromote peace and cooperationRegarding “AIPAC, J Street support restoring Israel-Palestine peace dialogue funding” (June 7), what reason is there to imagine that more investment in “peace dialogue programming” will change a culture that chooses to educate its children using textbooks and curricula that incite hatred and violence instead of peace and cooperation?The suggestion that the Trump administration removed funding for “peace dialogue programming” as a “punitive measure against the Palestinians” is disgraceful. The truth is that Palestinian schools use textbooks that incite hatred and violence instead of peace and tolerance as a punitive measure against Israelis!Any Palestinians who want to build peace and advance reconciliation efforts by promoting greater understanding, mutual trust, and cooperation between communities might usefully apply themselves to changing their culture through different textbook choices.A bill funding Palestinian textbooks that promote peace and cooperation is a bill everyone would support – except probably the Palestinians.JULIA LUTCHDavis, CAStop funding hatredIn “Terrorists and freedom fighters” (June 6), Gershon Baskin writes, “The issue of tax transfers seems currently deadlocked, but a solution needs to be found quickly before the collapse happens.”I have an excellent solution that will greatly benefit both peoples:The PA will immediately cease all payments to terrorists (and their families), who slaughter innocent Israeli and Jewish men, women and children.They will then receive the taxes due to them, enabling them to build apartments, hospitals, schools and further help their people.We, in return, can finally go to study, work, drive, out to eat, be entertained, travel, etc., and send our children to school, camp and activities without worrying that we or they will be gunned down or stabbed.DEBORAH POZNANSKYHerzliyaRegarding “Terrorists and freedom fighters” (June 6), freedom fighters don’t murder parents in front of children and children in front of parents. Freedom fighters don’t massacre entire families as they sleep in their beds by stabbing and mutilating their bodies, even infants in their crib! Freedom fighters don’t hack to death worshipers in their synagogue with machetes and axes as they pray.The list goes on and on as to the atrocities that we in Israel have suffered in the hands of these “freedom fighters” spoken of in the article.While it is true that we in Israel have had our own share of extremists who have murdered Arabs, the difference is how we as a society respond to them. We don’t hand out sweets when non-combatants are killed by our extremists. Instead, we hunt the Jewish terrorists down and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.Until our adversaries can correctly identify terrorism for what it is, there is no hope for peaceful coexistence.NORMAN DEROVANMa’ale AdumimTough enough?Regarding “Is Blue and White tough enough for “Bibi’s barbell politics” (June 5), Gil Troy laid out several strategies for Blue and White to adopt, in order for them to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming election.I think the most insightful part of the article however, is the title.After all, if they aren’t tough enough for Bibi’s “barbell” politics, can they possibly be tough enough for the savage politics and real threats posed by far too many of our neighbors?YISRAEL FELDMANHashmonaim“2019 is becoming Israel’s ‘lost year’” (May 31, 2019) correctly makes the point that the April elections were about one issue only: Netanyahu or not Netanyahu. (It reminds me of the 2016 American election: Hillary Clinton or anyone else. Donald Trump won because of the massive anti-Hillary sentiment, not because of real issues.) The article suggests that the best government would be Likud together with Blue and White, but that was impossible because the entire platform of B&W was anti-Bibi.It is time to consider term limits for the prime minister (even though I am a right-wing voter). That would (somewhat) limit the narcissistic thinking of whoever is sitting in that office and encourage the prime minister to promote future leadership within his own party, so when his term is up, there will be someone else to pick up the baton and continue his legacy. Under the current system, Netanyahu has successfully chopped the legs off of any prospective challenger, leaving no clear successor. (It kind of reminds me of Abbas’s non-existent chain of succession.)When we again have a functioning government, this might be something everyone (except Bibi) could agree on: term limits for the prime minister.RICHARD LOPCHINSKYJerusalemSanders blundersRegarding “At AJC’s Global Forum, Bernie Sanders sharply criticizes ‘reactionary’ Netanyahu” (June 5), I am angry at Sanders and disagree with his positions:1) You should not negotiate with terrorists.2) All Gazans live under Hamas (there are Jews in Gaza) and 95% of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria (for Sanders, the “West Bank”) live under the control of the PA in Areas A and B. They are not being “crushed underneath a military occupation” as Sanders claims – but under their own people.3) Bernie says “two states based on the 1967 lines with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.” He needs to read the Hamas and PA charters, which call for armed struggle to regain all of Palestine. Their documents, maps, etc., show “Palestine” including all of Israel, Gaza, Judea and Samaria. The UN’s proposed separation into two areas, one Jewish and one Arab, was rejected by the Palestinians and Arab countries that invaded Israel.4) Sanders and company need to take a good look at what the Palestinians are constantly saying on the Internet and in newspapers (spoiler: what they say in Arabic is not what they say in English.MURRAY JOSEPHKiryat MotzkinIt’s my partyThere is much ado about Democratic vs. Republican Party in the US regarding Israel policy (“Lessons from California Democratic Party Convention, June 11.)It important for readers to note that unlike Israel, in the US, all politics are local. In all 50 states, including thousands of municipalities, local candidates determine policy. Beyond local issues, these party officials are the ones who gather every four years at the national conventions to roll out the party policy platform. This is true both of Republicans and Democrats.As such, neither party has a monopoly on support for Israel. In addition, on a local level, Democrats and Republicans are apt to agree on many issues and often even cross endorse each other’s candidates. It is important therefore to keep an even keel in reporting about American politics in terms of Israel.MARION REISSBeit ShemeshLGBT: Can a right be not right?Like Seth Frantzman (Jerusalem’s impossible-to-attend parade,” June 7), I had to detour for 20 minutes because of the Gay Pride parade. Every parade, race, bike tour in Jerusalem is an unavoidable inconvenience to all the city’s inhabitants, but that is really not the issue.That the LGBT community has the right to parade in a democratic society is a given, but not every right needs to be exercised. The heterosexual community is expected to respect the rights and be sensitive to the LGBT community. But is it a one-way street? Why shouldn’t everybody be sensitive to the other? Just because the “other” in Jerusalem’s case is the traditionally religious community of the three religions that recognize Jerusalem as one of their most holy cities, if not the holiest, doesn’t mean that the LGBT community can ignore their responsibility to be sensitive to the others’ needs.If LGBT people want to be respected as the godly human beings they are, they should show the same respect to those that have been respecting God’s image for thousands of years. Is it not enough to have a parade in all the other cities in this democratic country? Wouldn’t it be truly godly for them to announce that out of respect for the “other” they will forgo the parade in Jerusalem or at least move their route to the ‘s periphery? This would show that they not only demand respect, but they also respect and show consideration to others.RICHARD LOPCHINSKYJerusalemI cannot believe the inane policing and security that I became involved in at Liberty Bell Park.I was trying to make my way to the Hirsch Theater, where I was helping with that evening’s staging of Encore’s performance of The Pirates of Penzance as their sound man.I was forced to go into the park to join the masses going on the Gay Pride march and had to push my way through to get away from the mob. I was trying to get to the theater, but was no escape route allowed for people like myself who were going in the direction of King David Street.I was unwillingly held by the police and mob, unable to make my way to my destination.I gather from the Jerusalem Post article that only suspicious people were asked to provide ID and were searched. Well they thought I was suspicious and they asked for my ID and searched my rucksack. The only suspicious “weapons” in the bag were a script of Pirates of Penzance, a set of headphones, CD sound effects, a Kit-Kat bar and a thermos flask of coffee. I hate to think what they thought of my armaments.Eventually they let me go, but I was held up for no good reason for 30 minutes. No thought was given for people like myself who did not want to be included in the parade. I only wanted to do my job.BOB GOLDJerusalemRoad killRegarding “Three kids killed in car accidents” (June 7), the carnage on Route 90 to Eilat that claimed the lives of young children is nothing new to Israelis. As a bystander said, in another week or two no one will remember the incident.Traveling the roads regularly, I can testify to two facts. One, speed limits are routinely ignored; motorists drive almost out of control reaching ridiculous speeds. Second, rarer than a pork chop at a Jewish wedding is a police patrol car. Their total absence on our roads begs the question, “Where are they and what are they doing?”I have reached the conclusion that this situation is accepted and welcomed by default by all parties involved. The police keep out of the picture, making for an easy life for them, and the motorists are free to behave exactly as they wish – a win-win situation for everyone… except for the victims of the many traffic “accidents.”May the Lord have mercy on us!DAVID S ADDLEMANMevaseret ZionCorrectionCorrection“To lay the foundations of peace, we must protect the story of Israel” (June 10) contains two errors:1. It states, “The 1967 borders, captured by Israel during the Six Day War would leave us indefensible. The Knesset and our largest airports would be vulnerable to short-range missiles.”The term “1967 borders” usually refers to the 1949 ceasefire lines. The article should read, “Withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders (the ‘Auschwitz lines’) would leave us in an indefensible position.”2. It also states “… exchanged 1,027 convicted terrorists responsible for the deaths of 569 Israelis for the dead body of one of its soldiers, Gilad Shalit.” In reality, Gilad Shalit was alive when exchanged and is still alive.ABRAHAM BROTPetah Tikva
