Letters to the Editor December 16, 2020: Happy BDS Hanukkah!

Regarding “Hanukkah wishes from Trump, Johnson, Talib, Omar, other public figures” (Jpost.com December 15), Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweets: “I’d like to wish my Jewish neighbors a Happy Hanukkah. Hanukkah inspires me, especially during this difficult time. I hope we can remember that even in the most unexpected moments, miracles can happen.”

Are you kidding?

Hanukkah is the most nationalistic of all Jewish holidays. Unabashedly nationalistic. It is an affirmation of Jewish sovereignty over the entire historic land of Israel. It celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the Jewish peoples’ sovereignty over all of Jerusalem.

Tlaib has demonstrated time and again she has zero respect for the Jewish people of Israel. She places a “map of Palestine” over the entire country of Israel. She supports Omar Barghouti’s antisemitic genocidal BDS movement. Barghouti has said the sole purpose of BDS is the euthanasia of Israel. A student of history, Barghouti knows full well the Nazi T4 Euthanasia Program was the foundation for the Final Solution of the Jews. 

On November 27 Tlaib tweeted “from the River to the Sea,” which since the PLO was formed in 1964 has meant the annihilation of the Jewish population of Israel.

For Tlaib to tweet Hanukkah “inspires her” is as hypocritical as Henry Ford publishing in The Dearborn Independent that Hanukkah inspired him. Of course he never did because he was not a hypocrite about his virulent antisemitism.

Regarding “‘WSJ’ op-ed shows the chutzpah of modern-day sexism” (December 15), Joseph Epstein of The Wall Street Journal has been harshly condemned worldwide for suggesting to Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of President-elect Joe Biden, that she drop the title “Dr.” because she is in fact a Doctor of Education.

Epstein quotes “a wise man” who said that the title “Dr.” should be reserved for those who have delivered a child. Epstein is of course dead wrong – as well as “the wise man.” Many holders of PhDs refer to themselves as Dr.

Biden received her PhD from an accredited PhD-granting university and she has every right to refer to herself as Dr. 

On the other hand, there is considerable confusion regarding these titles. MD is usually taken to mean a medical doctor; PhD is someone who has been granted a Doctor of Philosophy; DDS is a Doctor of Dental Surgery. MD and DDS are professional degrees and many holders of these degrees have not earned PhDs, which usually require written dissertations and published papers in peer-reviewed journals. 

To avoid this confusion many “doctors” simply list their earned degree after their name – eg., Jill Biden, PhD. rather than Dr. Jill Biden. This will avoid Jill Biden being called late at night and asked to consult on a heart transplant. In Germany, there are 10 “Dr.” degrees that carefully define the specialty and whether they are research or professional. 

A second “on the other hand” is that not every stupid statement should be immediately integrated and amplified into “the war between the sexes” as modern day-sexism. In the USA in 2018, 41,717 PhDs were granted to women and only 37,062 to men. Closer to home, last year the Hebrew University granted 375 PhDs to women and only 205 to men. 

Women have broken through this particular academic glass ceiling and can relax a bit. Men are watching more soccer and basketball and are earning PhDs on expertise in video games.

Regarding “Lame-duck diplomacy (December 15), observers of the US transition from a Republican administration to a Democratic one are advising Israel to tread carefully during the swan-song days of the Trump regime – not to ruffle the feathers of President-elect Joe Biden, who might be prone to reverse any initiatives that were originally presented to us by Trump.

We are no longer a needy nation. Our position in the Middle East is of strategic importance to America. Although Biden in his previous incarnation sitting at the feet of president Barack Obama was prone more than once to throw Israel a curve ball not to our liking, let’s not, as suggested, have a cap-in-hand attitude when interacting with the new president but rather one of mutual respect, making clear that no person or nation can compromise our security in this part of the world or our well-earned status in the rest of it.

Regarding “PA: Hanukkah at Cave of Patriarchs constitutes a ‘war crime’” (Jpost.com, December 15), nothing could be more ludicrous than the Palestinian Authority claiming a celebration of Hanukkah at the Cave of the Patriarchs is a “war crime.”

Hebron is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible more than 80 times. 3,800 years ago, Abraham – the first Hebrew and the Jewish national patriarch – began his life in Eretz Yisrael. He chose Hebron as the first place of settlement (Genesis 13:17). Arabs did not have a major presence there until 637 CE. Jews continued to live and thrive there until August 23, 1929 when the Arabs committed a real and monstrous war crime against the Jewish people – instigated by the grand mufti Amin Al-Husseini, whose sycophants have included Yasser Arafat, Saeb Erekrat and Mamoud Abbas. 

This war crime was described by Giulio Meotti in The New Shoah (2009):

“The pogrom in Hebron began on August 23, 1929 when two Talmudists had their throats slit. They were not making political speeches; they were just searching for God. The next day it was the turn of about 50 Jews who had taken refuge in the Anglo-Palestine Bank. They were all together in one room; it didn’t take long for the Arabs to find them. The Arabs hacked off feet, fingers, heads; they gouged out eyeballs; they burned severed heads on top of a stove. One rabbi was commending his fellow Jews to God when he was slaughtered. One by one, six students were placed on the lap of Mrs. Sololov, who was still alive, and their throats were slit. The men were castrated. Girls, mothers, grandmothers were forced to dance in the blood and then were raped. Meanwhile, Rabbi Slonin had been taken to the hospital. ‘They have killed my wife, my children, my wife’s family.’ There were tears in his eyes. In 1492, the Jews who had been expelled from Spain brought a scroll of the Law to Hebron, a holy scroll, a divine Torah. The Arabs burned it.’”

Now the PA makes the ridiculous and insulting the mere presence of a menorah in Hebron is a “war crime.” As an organization that celebrates the monstrous legacy of the grand mufti Amin al-Husseini and in particular his bloody legacy in Hebron – and to this day pays money to incentivize and reward murderers – the only war crime that should ever be mentioned in conjunction with Hebron is the events of 1929.

Regarding “At 33, Hamas vows to continue fight for ‘liberation’” (December 15), this is a terrorist organization in the Land of Israel that has been allowed almost unlimited freedom to attack and murder Israelis – yet this same terrorist organization can make deals with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as though it were a legitimate entity. Its consistent oft-stated goal is to liquidate Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. 

In contrast, Israel’s goal is to seek “peace” deals with the implacable enemy and surrender to their dictates. Netanyahu’s determination not to destroy Hamas means it has nothing to lose, so it has no holds barred while our strong and loyal IDF is sent into war with orders not to win. This brought about the tragedy of the two soldiers who were killed in the 2014 Operation Protective Edge and whose bodies are today still being kept by Hamas. Why did Netanyahu agree to cease fires with Hamas without demanding the release of the bodies of the soldiers?

Now again there is talk is of a prisoner swap (“Hauser: Gaza prisoner swap offer outrageous,” December 15), like the 2011 deal when 1,027 terrorists – many of whom had committed the most heinous crimes – were released in exchange for Gilad Schalit. This is not only outrageous; it is a crime against those who fought and died believing they were doing so to free our land of our enemies. 

I do hope the European Union listens to what the leaders of Gaza say.

Last week we heard a plea for the people of Gaza, but their leaders are not concerned with their plight. Their aim is to “liberate” Palestine and they are working to strengthen the capabilities of resistance in all its forms. 

So much for helping the poor and the sick of Gaza.

Can it be that’s what the Europeans want? To help them liberate Palestine and eliminate Israel? Otherwise it makes no sense to pour so much money over there.

Regarding “Will UAE be safer and more tolerant to Jews than most of Europe?” (December 14), I can understand the writer’s concern and discomfort about wearing a kippa in parts of Europe and needing police protection in many Jewish houses of worship and other centers. 

However, when he lumps the United States into this mix, declaring Jews to be “safer in the UAE than in most European countries and most American states,” I must take issue.

There is not now nor ever as been any state-sponsored antisemitism in the US, and indeed the very premise of America’s founding was religious equality and freedom for all. 

To walk down any street in any city in the US today is to be surrounded by the most diverse ethnicity in the world, accompanied by all sorts of dress, including headgear, that one might imagine.

If antisemitism is statistically higher in the US than in the UAE, it is because up to a few months ago there were no Jews in the UAE.

Of course, any sign of antisemitism anywhere in the world must be addressed as the writer so aptly does in his article, but to compare Berlin, the epicenter of the Nazi genocide to, for example, New York or Chicago, I think diminishes his point.

While The Jerusalem Post ran an article on Human Rights Day in 2019, it is pity that Human Rights Day this year (December 10) passed unnoticed. 

2020 has been exceptional in myriad ways. The coronavirus pandemic has taken its heavy toll, wrecking communities and leaving behind death, desolation and despair, vividly illustrating the mighty power of Mother Nature, the indivisibility of humanity and the soaring greed of multinational corporations spoiling nature to make the way for development projects. 

The pestilence has accentuated structural, systematic and intergenerational inequalities, hunger, unemployment, homelessness, gender-based violence, economic turbulence, sexual slavery, xenophobia, antisemitism, marginalization, trans-boundary diseases, racism – all a painful legacy of colonialism and patriarchy.

This is an opportunity to incorporate human rights in regional, national and global policies and work tenaciously to create a better, fairer and healthier world for all.