By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Rules of expulsionSir, – I am writing in regard to Susan Hattis Rolef’s “Expelling elected representatives from office” (Think About It, Comment and Features, December 1). It should be remembered that no Arab members of the Knesset have ever been expelled – even when they advocated for the destruction of the Jewish state, and justified terrorist attacks in Israel and Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza.The only member of the Knesset to have been expelled and his party banned was Rabbi Meir Kahane and his Kach Party, when he advocated that Arabs be transferred to any Arab state of their choosing if they did not accept Jewish sovereignty in the Jewish homeland.IRA NOSENCHUKJerusalemAnything goes Sir, – The PA and the Arab League claim the Jews have no prior connection to this land and that there never was a Temple in Jerusalem (“Arab League joins PA bid for United Nations timeline on Israeli pullout to pre-1967 lines,” November 30).What is most surprising is the fact that we hear no protest from the Vatican, the Archbishop of Canterbury or any other Christian leader or preacher. After all, this claim by the Arab world negates not only the Torah but also their New Testament.The silence of the Christian world would suggest that they too do not believe their own Bible or that they are still so anti-Semitic that they prefer to ignore this repudiation of their Bible.I suppose once you falsify history to fit your political need then anything goes.EMANUEL FISCHERJerusalemBag lady clubSir, – I am totally in agreement with Wendy Blumfield’s comments (Letters, November 30) about plastic bags in the supermarket.I use six large cloth bags which were on sale in the supermarket a few years ago. They are nowhere to be seen now and I eagerly awaited the day when the supermarkets would phase out this practice of using plastic bags with abandon. I hate all this plastic! Yes, I totally agree that we are in the Dark Ages here as far as the use of so many environmentally unfriendly bags. So cheers from one bag lady to another! Lets look forward to the day when Israel becomes more enlightened on the use of these totally non-biodegradable objects.LINDA SILVERSTONEHerzliya PituahSir, I was dismayed by Amir Peretz’s decision to leave the government in the middle of his almost successful campaign to decrease, dramatically, the use of plastic bags. I fail to understand why no one is continuing it.The law against plastic bags has fallen to the wayside, along with the used plastic bags. Can no one else carry this banner? It is a good law for everyone (excluding, of course, the plastic bag producers).On another note, our relations with Turkey cannot get much worse. Wouldn’t this be an ideal time to officially recognize the Armenian genocide? It has been a sign of cowardliness and hypocrisy not to have done so until now. Realpolitik makes sense when there is something to be gained. How much more is there to lose with Turkey? BERURIAH ADLER Jerusalem Whose side? Sir, – I was more than rattled by Construction Minister Uri Ariel’s plans to bring in 15,000 construction workers from Gaza.(“Ariel seeks permits for 15,000 Gaza construction workers,” November 28). My first thought was “whose side is he on, anyway?” Once upon a pre-intifada time, IDF sources estimated that about 1% of the 100,000 Palestinian workers coming to Israel each day were terrorists; that is to say, a brigade of murderers were being allowed daily into Israel! Now Ariel wants to start small, with only three companies of terrorists.“Gazan workers are good construction workers,” says Ariel’s spokesman. I bet they are, particularly at constructing attack tunnels.If there is a problem with obtaining foreign guest workers, then instead we should turn to the tens of thousands of African migrants with whom we will most likely be stuck indefinitely.It seems more sensible to me to train these people to be construction workers and thereby allow them to decently support themselves.TREVOR DAVISAsseretNo partnerSir, – Thank you to Martin Sherman for his excellent article “The Arabs’ war against the Jews (cont.): Root causes & red herrings,” (Into the Fray, Observations, November 28). I wonder what are the responses of Gershon Baskin, Zehava Gal-On and Tzipi Livni? Maybe they can give me some answers as to why they believe Abbas is a partner for peace.Livni always claims she wants to preserve the Jewish identity of Israel and yet she opposes the Jewish state law. How is that possible?FREYA BINENFELDPetah TikvaFair and balanced Sir, – Dr. Avraham Avi-Hai did it again. A fair and balanced article on Menachem Begin z”l (“Menachem Begin: Moments of greatness, moments of error,” The POSTman Knocks Twice, Observations, November 28).I believe that Dr. Avi-Hai has the real low down with his backroom knowledge and intrigues of the past and is most qualified to write a book about Menachem Begin, from his past to statesman and peacemaker in our times. His book would be factual and a witness to our history without favoritism.TZVI TOREMJerusalemFear mongeringSir, – Once again Caroline Glick has shown her superficial appreciation of what constitutes a democracy (“The storm over the teacup,” Column One, Observations, November 28). Her suggestions to limit the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty; to end oversight by judges of certain government appointments; to put the elected officials above all other elements of governance – all clearly show that her extremely narrow approach to democracy is no different from other fascist approaches.Given her American connection, one might have hoped that she would have an appreciation for the concept of checks and balances.Her apparent fears (and fear-mongering) are strongly emphasized by her suggestion that “A Jewish state unable to prevent the dilution of its Jewish majority through the illegal mass immigration of predominantly Muslim Africans is a Jewish state with a dubious future.”If 6.5 million Jews feel threatened by fewer than 100,000 illegal migrants (many of whom should technically be categorized as political refugees), then she has already created her own ghetto – both physically and metaphysically.A healthy democracy must constantly balance the rights of the individual against the benefit to society as a whole. The moment one element is provided legislative authority over any other element, democracy becomes a fiction.LINDA EPSTEINJerusalemJumping the gunSir, – I am in favor of a Jewish State Law but to be fair to myself I read MK Hilik Bar’s article “There is no need for a ‘Jewish state’ law” (Observations, November 28).It seemed like a good article until I got to the following sentence, which ruined the entire article for me.“But the draft passed by the coalition still omits explicitly protecting ‘equality,’ and purports to force the courts and the legislature to utilize Jewish religious law.”The word purports means to me that Hilik Bar has not read the draft legislation and only has second- hand knowledge of its content.While I applaud his honesty I believe he should read the final draft before he criticizes the bill.Jumping the gun is so Israeli.PAUL BERMANShoham
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