Biden’s big boondoggle
It was disappointing to read the usually insightful and intelligent Amotz Asa-El apparently believing the lies being peddled by the Biden administration to try to cover for their incredibly incompetent and poorly planned pull-out from Afghanistan (“The will to fight: A user’s manual,” August 20).
To say that the Afghans had no will to fight is to deny the fact that they lost somewhere between 50,000 to 70,000 of their own troops in recent years, as they did the fighting while Western forces provided backup. The US troops left literally in the middle of the night, with no warning, stranding and abandoning the Afghan forces who had been trained to rely on the cover provided by the US and other Western forces in the air and with intelligence and equipment maintenance.
Not a single US soldier had been killed in the previous 18 months, while thousands of Afghan troops continued to fight and die. Asa-El’s flippant slander of the Afghan people and army is shameful, as is the nonstop lying by the Biden administration to those Americans who are still too ignorant to understand the truth that Joe Biden and Co., with their cold-blooded and heartless stupidity, unconditionally surrendered Afghanistan to terrorists, setting the world back decades and putting every human being on the planet into infinitely more danger than they were just two weeks ago.
DEBORAH BUCKMANTzur Hadassah
The savage attack on Kabul airport with nearly 300 casualties, including 13 murdered American troops, was as preventable as it was predictable. The incomprehensible decision to close the secure Bagram Airbase and premature drawdown of military assets before evacuating all civilians led inexorably to this needless carnage. The decision for America to disengage completely by August 31 resulted in thousands of civilians descending on Kabul airport, seeking to escape certain massacre after that date.
US President Joe Biden chose August 31 for purely political reasons – he wanted something to crow about on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack. That was a fool’s errand. Instead, this September 11 the Taliban will celebrate their victory over the US.
Islamic terrorists around the world have been reinvigorated and emboldened. Some 5,000 terrorists were released from Bagram prison, substantially increasing the likelihood of attacks on US targets. America’s enemies will no longer fear the world’s most powerful nation; her allies wonder if they too will be betrayed.
While the hasty departure was a stunning combination of faithlessness and incompetence, the final act is much worse. The Taliban turned Biden’s self-imposed deadline into an absolute demand, and then threatened serious consequences for any violation. Biden was unwilling to confront that threat. His servile capitulation bespeaks abject cowardice and purposeful dereliction of duty as commander in chief. It confirms the US’s departure from Afghanistan as unconditional surrender to a bunch of barbaric terrorists.
Biden’s actions have done grievous harm to America’s credibility and deterrence. His warning to the perpetrators of the airport attack – “We will hunt you down and make you pay” – rings hollow. Nobody believes him.
The overarching duty of any president is to protect American citizens. By complying with the date certain for departure, Biden has signed the death warrants of many who will be left behind – an untold number of Americans (inexplicably, the exact number of Americans in country is still unknown) and thousands of Afghans who assisted the American war effort.
I served as an American diplomat for a quarter of a century, including as Assistant Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism with the Trump administration. I was proud to work under stellar secretaries of state, believing that I was representing a “shining city on the hill,” a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.
While perhaps not the primary agent of this catastrophic foreign policy failure, the current State Department, led by feckless Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is certainly a willing co-conspirator. For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to admit that I have had any relationship to this once most honorable institution.
EFRAIM A. COHENZichron Yaakov
Pre’occupation’ with biased term
In “The lesson for the US-Israel relationship," (August 24), Avi Gil writes that one of the “ills that threaten the special relationship with the US is the continued occupation and control of another people” and “Israel does not seem to be bothered that it is an occupying nation” and “without a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the ongoing occupation will continue to poison our relations with American Jewry and threaten our special relations with the US.”
Without taking issue with the word “occupation” to describe Israel’s presence in its historic homeland, these comments are misleading for a number of reasons.
First, they ignore the many overtures made and concessions offered to the Palestinian Authority which has not been willing even to meet over the past several years to discuss them.
Second, the lack of resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not prevented a number of Sunni Moslem nations from establishing formal relations and entering into multi-million dollar trade agreements with Israel.
Third, our problem with the Left wing of the Democratic Party is due to the influence of those like the Squad who are antisemitic and will not be influenced by any rational arguments.
And fourth, our problem with a segment of American Jewry is due its lack of knowledge of Jewish history, primarily the history of the past century.
JAY SHAPIROJerusalem
Death in Denver
Thank you Yafit Ovadia (“Terror in the Rockies,” August 25) for your heartwarming coverage about the tragic story about the antisemitic murder in Denver.
It was on a cold and clear night 50 years ago on December 24, after Shabbat, that a small group got together at Manny & Molly (z’l) Feder’s home on the West Side of Denver. Our intent was to bring a kollel to Denver. We, as a group, pledged moral and financial support to this endeavor, and so the Yeshiva was born. There were many hurdles to keeping the yeshiva alive, but as a group, along with the rest of the Denver Jewish Community, it survived.
I remember the reciprocal warmth that existed between the kollel and the community through the decades. Bachrim came on occasion for the warmth of our homes and, of course, meals. Many of its graduate now lead similar institutions and many have made Israel their home.
Sending condolences to the family of Shmuel Silverberg and praying for an end to such violence in Colorado...
LENORD HORWITZHerzliya Pituah
The article on the recent death of a yeshiva student in Denver Colorado has several inaccuracies. I am a security consultant living and working in Denver, and a former hayal boded (Lone Soldier in Israel). I have read the reports of the incident and as of this morning the last assailant has been placed in custody. The death of the student is unfortunate but so far there is nothing conclusively antisemitic related to this crime. These deranged young men were on a spree and the student was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You should be careful posting articles that may be written with an agenda.
JACK MELTZERQDenver
Pope pummels our people
Although it is still not clear as Philip Pullella points out in “Israeli rabbis ask pope to clarify ‘anti-Torah’ remarks” (August 26), whether Pope Francis’s recent words emphasizing the supersedence of Christianity over Judaism citing that the “Torah does not give life” were actually meant as a denigration of the Jewish religion, the implications in European history make the topic worthy of mention.
If indeed this is a rejection of Judaism as obsolete, it would be a 21st century reiteration of the ancient Christian doctrine depicting the Jew as an inferior being.
This doctrine is illustrated by the huge sculpture at the Cathedral of Strasbourg, which is replicated in the Yad Vashem Gallery on antisemitism, showing the Christian upstanding and triumphant on one side, and the Jew, downcast and blindfolded on the other.
It was this widely disseminated portrait through Europe of the Jew as “the other” that made him a ready target for blame and scapegoating for whatever ills befell medieval life, leading to the horrible pogroms and murder of Jews throughout the centuries that included the Crusades and culminated in the Holocaust.
From a historical point of view at least, if no other, there is a compelling need for clarification.
MARION REISSBeit Shemesh
Ignoble ignorance
I was shocked to read Ronald Lauder’s “A call to action” (August 26). As someone who has devoted most of his time, energy and wealth to the cause of Jewish education, it is surprising that he doesn’t recognize the real reason for the animosity of young Jewish “progressives” toward Israel. It is due to their total ignorance of Judaism, Jewish and even world history rather than the policies of the State of Israel.
Most American Jews have never even visited the Jewish homeland. Many of them have only a tenuous relationship with their religion. Why do they think they know better than Israelis as to what policies Israel should pursue? Israelis read the Pew report also see that the Conservative and Reform streams have a 70% intermarriage rate. Why would they want to import this phenomenon?
Why do they believe we are “occupying” our own land? Why do they think we need another failed Arab state next door that will undoubtedly turn into a Hamas stronghold? Why do they place all the onus on Israel and none on the Palestinians for the lack of peace? Why do they think that a people with 22 countries need a 23rd but we Jews should not have even one small one?
There is only one answer and that is ignorance. Perhaps Lauder should devote more of his attention to the education of the youth of America instead of those of Eastern Europe.
CHAVA LEBOWITZ Jerusalem
Don’t bicker – be a biker
In “TA congestion fees welcome, but must be with holistic approach,“ (August 18), Jehuda Haddad has omitted a means of transportation that could help solve congestion, dramatically decrease air pollution and increase cardio-vascular health – namely the bicycle.
Most days as I ride from Rehovot to Ramat Aviv (27 km. each way), I pass countless single-occupant vehicles and enter the bus-jams of Tel Aviv (for some reason buses from the north of Israel terminate in south Tel Aviv and vice-versa; some sort of train or tram solution is needed to eliminate these unnecessary routes).
Not only does this particular bicycle commute burn 2,000 kcal a day, it is also the fastest means of travel, especially during peak times. By bus this is a minimum of 70 minutes, by train 65 minutes, by car 80 minutes. By bike: 58 minutes. This illustrates the inefficiencies of motorized and public transport in Israel.
In many cases, biking makes sense. As a UK minister (Norman Tebbit) once said, “Get on yer bike.”
KOBI SIMPSON-LAVYRehovot
Suspicious Shoah stats
The op-ed “This disgraceful mocking of the Holocaust needs to stop now” (August 16) by David Goldman on Monday, 16 August 2021 puts forth a figure for the number of people murdered in the Jasenovac camp which is not only ridiculous, it plays into the hands of those who would like to whitewash the mass murder of primarily Serbs and Jews at the hands of the collaborationist Croatian Ustaše regime during World War II.
The number of people murdered in Jasenovac by the Ustaše is still a matter for scholarly inquiry and discussion, but it is clear to reputable scholars that it is many times greater than the absurdly low figure of 4,500 cited by Goldman, and many times less than the grossly inflated count of more than 800,000 that was widely touted in the Communist era and has been endorsed by Gideon Greif of late.
Yad Vashem continues to encourage ongoing research into the history of the camp by responsible and dedicated scholars, and will continue to disseminate their findings to the general public through educational work, trustworthy publications and Yad Vashem’s digital platforms.
At a time when Holocaust distortion is a significant feature in public discourse, it is incumbent on us to ensure that facts and content published in the media be as accurate as possible, and based on reliable sources. Ignoring this basic responsibility plays into the hands of those who seek to intentionally misrepresent the historical record.
DR. ROBERT ROZETTSenior Historian, International Institute for Holocaust Research
Canadian clarification
“Canadian Jewish org. asks ministers to deny work permit for anti-Israel prof” (August 21) merits some corrections.
The article states, “On September 9, 2020, the offer [to be director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto] was rescinded” and also refers to “the backtracking of Azarova’s application.” In fact, no formal offer was made to Azarova. There was no rescinding and no backtracking, only the non-acceptance of a recommendation from a search committee.
The article states, “Canadian press got wind of a phone call that occurred on September 4 between University of Toronto alumnus and tax judge David Spiro and the University’s assistant vice president.” The article does not make clear that the phone call was made by the University’s assistant vice president, not by Judge Spiro, to discuss alumni matters. In that call Judge Spiro made an incidental remark that the University should exercise due diligence in the hire for the position.
The article states: “The entire hiring committee that recommended Azarova resigned.” The hiring committee had only one faculty member (out of three) and she did not resign her position at the law school faculty.
The article states, “According to B’nai Brith, Azarova’s candidacy was rescinded simply because she did not have a license to practice law in the state of Ontario, which was necessary for the position.” According to the University-commissioned Cromwell report, to which B’nai Brith referred, the offer to Azarova was not made and the recommendation of the search committee not accepted because there were qualified Canadians who had applied for the job, as a result of which Azarova could not get the necessary visa. The Dean of the Law School was also concerned, as the Cromwell report observed and B’nai Brith noted, that Azarova did not have a license to practice law anywhere, which was an advertised requirement for the position.
The article states, “The search for a new IHRP director recommenced in June, and an offer was personally made to Azarova.” The public record shows that, in the new search, Azarova was personally invited to apply. There is no comparable public record that qualified Canadian candidates who previously applied were personally invited to apply. There is also no public record that she was made an offer.
The article states, “...nor did any other applicants reach out due to the CAUT censure.” There is no public record who applied. CAUT members would be violating CAUT policy by applying.
The article states: “B’nai Brith justified its actions by arguing that Azarova was essentially antisemitic.” Those were not the words we used. We stand by what, in the article, we were quoted as saying.
DAVID MATASSenior Honorary Counsel, B’nai Brith Canada