Just a court hearing

With regard to “Failed rhetoric” (My Word, May 20), what a relief to see that Liat Collins still appears in your Friday newspaper.

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters (photo credit: REUTERS)
Letters
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Just a court hearing
In “Redrawing Sykes-Picot” (Editor’s Notes, May 20), Post editorin- chief Yaakov Katz briefly alludes to the fact that our presumptive incoming defense minister, Avigdor Liberman, attended a court hearing for the IDF soldier who is being prosecuted for manslaughter in killing a Palestinian attacker “even though the military had unequivocally denounced the act.”
Surely, Katz is missing the point – the fact that the military, together with former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, denounced the killing so unequivocally is deeply troubling and must surely be prejudicial to any fair trial.
There was never a need for the military or any defense minister to try to usurp the role of a military judge. It is this conduct that is totally unacceptable. What is unacceptable about attending a court hearing?
PETER SCHWEITZER Tel Aviv
Pleasure to read
With regard to “Failed rhetoric” (My Word, May 20), what a relief to see that Liat Collins still appears in your Friday newspaper.
Ms. Collins is a beacon of light and hope in a media world that has become ridden with extremism (both Left and Right) and barely hidden agendas. Not only are her views based on sound, logical reasoning supported by historical fact and extensive reading, but they are couched in a prose style that is a pleasure to read.
GRACE DAYAN Jerusalem
Go with the flow
According to your May 20 “From our Archives” feature on news appearing in the Post 25 years ago: “A subsidiary of Thames Water Plc., a British company that supplied water and sewage services to most of London, had refused to do business with Israel because [the company] had ‘many and valued Arab clients.’” It is uplifting, therefore, to know that in December 2013, Thames Water chose the Israeli company Mapal Green Energy to treat its wastewater. Added to contracts with United Utilities and Anglican Water, Mapal Green now purifies the wastewater water of almost half of all English households.
LYNETTE ORDMAN
Netanya
Encountering Peace
With regard to “The French connection” (Encountering Peace, May 19), Gershon Baskin, as usual, ignores the main obstacle to peace – Hamas.
There can be no peace agreement as long as Hamas rules Gaza. Mr. Baskin must know this.
Why don’t he, the French and everyone else obsessed with Israel demand that the Palestinians have elections? This way, they can decide which direction they want to go. Negotiating with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term ran out years ago, is ridiculous and a waste of everyone’s time.
If the Palestinians vote Hamas out, we can start honest negotiations.
If not, we can begin annexing the large settlements.
HAROLD ZUDICK Modi’in
Gershon Baskin is again trying to convince himself and us that there can be peace, whether by secret talks or public meetings, not to mention a French initiative.
Can anyone say the Palestinians are ready to govern themselves? Have they made any efforts toward building a state? Where are the schools, the hospitals, the roads or infrastructure? Billions of dollars pour into the area, but only to line the pockets of officials, pay monthly stipends to the families of terrorists and buy media time to malign Israel.
Will the Palestinians ever recognize the Jewish State of Israel? Has anyone ever seen a map issuing from there with Israel on it? Have they not declared loud and clear that all of Palestine is Arab land, so it cannot belong to anyone else? Their classrooms and mosques persist in teaching hate and have raised two generations on this mental diet, calling Jews pigs and apes. If killing Jews is a religious duty and dying in the attempt is martyrdom, why should anyone expect them to make peace with us? It is time for our government to show some backbone and quit worrying what the rest of the world thinks of us.
EDMUND JONAH Rishon Lezion
Quality time
In “The busy person’s lies” (Comment & Features, May 19), the writer admires her ability to balance a multitude of professional functions with her maternal responsibilities. The piece brings up an important concern in today’s active society, but overlooks a fundamental consequence.
For several years, I had an active solo ob/gyn practice in New York City, which often took me away from home at unpredictable times. My daily schedule was measured in minutes. It was not until I retired five years ago and subsequently came on aliya that some of my seven children opened up to me and confessed that when they were young, they resented my repeated absences from home and school functions.
Quality time does not always occur when scheduled. Hired help cannot replace parents. In Harry Chapin’s 1974 song “Cat’s in the Cradle,” the final lines repeat the essence of what the son heard during his youth: “I’ve long since retired and my son’s moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, ‘I’d like to see you if you don’t mind.’ He said, ‘I’d love to, Dad, if I could find the time.’” I cannot relive the years in which I could have contributed more to my children’s development and enjoyed watching their progress, but I do wish I had attenuated my professional schedule more significantly. For most of us, our true legacy is measured not in monetary units, but in the memories in the minds of our offspring.
GARY STEINMAN Jerusalem
Who’s to blame
While I agree with the moral compass of Michael Sfard (“Better future for Israel demands adherence to international law,” Comment & Features, May 17), he and the people he represents fail to examine the morals of the so-called Palestinians.
I am a Jew, born during the British Mandate. Many of us were forced to leave in 1929-30 for economic reasons, brought on by the same thing that is happening today: the killing of innocent civilians. Why are we the only ones targeted by Sfard’s group? The blame for the terror here is not on the Jews. We, wherever we have settled, have lived peacefully and integrated with the country’s population. This cannot be expounded with respect to the Muslim people!
S. GELGOR Tel Aviv
Wrong emphasis
The issue concerning the statements of Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan is much more serious than what has been reflected in the media. There is a denial of our rich culture and history by emphasizing that we are here because of “Never again.”
I have long maintained that making the Holocaust one of the major elements of the foundation of the State of Israel is basically troublesome. While it marks the beginning of the major aliya movements to Israel, it does not establish a national tradition that other nations have, so Golan and most of the Israeli elite do not really feel that this is our country.
This surrender of our national tradition made it easier for the Palestinians to adopt and twist it for their own use. It was shameful to allow them to destroy the rich archaeological treasures on the Temple Mount that are evidence of our ownership.
It is time we recognized our rich history and tradition to create a more stable, richer and stronger nation. We can’t afford to put this off – because there are many more Golans to worry about.
RAPHAEL ROSENBAUM Kiryat Ono