Letters to the Editor June, 26, 2019: Concentration camps everywhere
Readers of The Jerusalem Post have their say.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: PIXABAY)
Concerning “White House releases detailed economic plan for Palestinian people” (June 23), the Palestinian Authority, imposed on the Palestinian people for 26 years, is incorporated within the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), remaining in a state of war, having never ratified the Declaration of Principles (DOP) of the Oslo Accords to denounce terrorism and recognize Israel.Neither has the PLO canceled its charter to destroy Israel.Before any economic deals are made with a terrorist organization, the PLO must be asked to agree to the reasonable conditions:1. Clear ratification of the DOP and cancellation of the PLO charter.2. Cancellation of the new PA curriculum, which incorporates principles of Jihad, martyrdom and a “right of return” by force of arms.3. Audit of humanitarian funds that flow to the PA and UNRWA to address reports of wasted resources, duplication of services and the flow of cash to terrorist groups,4. Advance the rehabilitation of five million descendants of Arab refugees from the 1948 war.The question remains: If the US improves the economy of a terrorist entity that perpetuates a state of war, what has it accomplished?DAVID BEDEINDirector, Israel Resource News AgencyConcentration camps everywhereRegarding “Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez desecrates the Holocaust” (June 25), all this condemnation of that legislator for her “concentration camp” comments has approached the hysterical.Her use of the term in describing the incarceration facilities of the Trump administration seems pretty accurate to me. Tearing little children away from their mothers, incarcerating them in tent cities in the middle of the desert, refusing them beds, bathing facilities and even toothbrushes sounds a lot like a concentration camp in any sense of the word.The abuse to which border-crossers have been subjected may not approach the cruelties that were perpetrated on Jews during the Holocaust, but that is not for want of trying on the part of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents.Perhaps it is time that the world should be re-informed that there is indeed a difference between a “death camp,” in which people are deliberately murdered, and a “concentration camp,” in which people are “merely” subjected to cruel, malicious abuse and neglect.As a Jew who lost family in World War II, I know what a concentration camp is when one is shown and described to me. I’m sure that Japanese-Americans would not disagree.TREVOR DAVISAsseret Apparently no holds are barred anymore when one seeks to score points against a political opponent.Detention facilities in the US have become concentration camps. Israelis have become “Zio-Nazis.” Gaza has become “Concentration Camp Gaza,” the “world’s largest open-air prison,” US university lecturers call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “Hitler,” and so on.Accordingly, there is no reason why we should refrain from likening Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez to Heinrich Himmler for her egregious use of demonizing terminology in her hysterical propaganda.BETH STEINJerusalemPA rules: All or nothingRegarding “Palestinians launch 3-day protest against parley” (June 25), the Arabs in Judea and Samaria continue to cleave to a strategy in which they will agree to accept all of their inflated maximalist demands (which they call “legitimate rights”) – or nothing at all.Why do they think that this “all-or-nothing” approach against Israel will work?1) They are the Goliath in the equation. There are nearly two billion Muslims and Arabs in the world with significant political and economic power, vast territories (including several dozen countries) and almost limitless wealth – versus a few million Israelis clinging to a narrow strip of land, plus a tiny Jewish Diaspora with little power or cohesion.2) The Arab cause is buttressed by global inherent anti-Israel sentiment rooted in centuries-old antisemitism that provides fanatical (albeit irrational) support, making it possible for even the most vile and false accusations and terminology in their narrative (land theft, genocide, apartheid, Nazi-like behavior, occupation, etc.) to sound plausible and reasonable.3) They view the current US administration’s support for reality and fairness in the region to be an aberration and believe they can simply wait until a US president hostile to Israel is elected who will apply extreme pressure on the Jews to capitulate on all fronts.4) No matter how many times the PA says “No,” they feel confident that they have nothing to lose and will remain on the front burner and the world will support them and keep offering them more.Why should they agree to anything now when they feel if they wait they will get more? The rational world must stop playing by PA rules.MEIR AMARHerzliya At their three-day “spontaneous” protest, Palestinians held up signs that they were given, including “Jerusalem is not for sale.” How right they are: Jerusalem is not for sale by them because they do not own it to sell it – and in all of history they never did. They like to parrot the Jews and call Jerusalem “their eternal capital,” but saying and repeating a stolen line does not make it true.The Palestinians say they will never agree to anything less than:• A Palestinian state along the 1967 borders (i.e. the 1949 ceasefire lies – requiring the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Jews from communities in the historical Jewish heartland)• East Jerusalem (including the Old City) as their capital• Realization of the so-called “Right of Return” (flooding what would be left of Israel with hundreds of thousands of Arabs of all ages)With all due respect, what they are really saying is they will never agree to anything at all.MOTI SNYDERRishon Lezion Once again, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is showing his expertise in being able to look a gift horse in the mouth by refusing to participate in this conference.It beholds a supposed leader of people – even one that is in the 14th year tenure of a four-year term – to give thought to the greater welfare of his people and be open to all avenues that might bring this about.However, getting involved in discussions would mean actually doing something positive. He would prefer to be negative, which gives him greater opportunity to create additional mayhem by expressing further derision while sowing an even deeper “them and us” attitude amongst his people – which this gathering in Bahrain is attempting to eradicate for the betterment of all.STEPHEN VISHNICKTel Aviv Here’s another reason why peace is not on the horizon:A December 2018 study released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace found that Palestinian leaders and institutions “do little policymaking, pursue no coherent ideology, express no compelling moral vision, are subject to no oversight, and inspire no collective enthusiasm.”MOSHE DANNBeit ShemeshRape case: Flimsy evidenceThe case of the rape of a seven-year-old child (“A seven-year-old child was raped,” June 25) is extremely disturbing on many levels. The assault itself is horrendous and the perpetrator should be brought to justice in the full force of the law.Law is the key word here, in a country where rules of evidence apply to all. The hyperbole in some quarters calling for immediate revenge brings to mind the case of Leo Frank, the Jewish building superintendent in Atlanta, Georgia, who was accused of the murder of a non-Jewish girl in the building in 1913 and convicted with only flimsy evidence of the janitor who had, in fact, been named as a suspect in the case. The newspapers were filled with antisemitic propaganda portraying stereotypes of the Jew doing harm to the non-Jew. When the governor commuted Frank’s death sentence for lack of evidence, a group of vigilantes broke into his jail and lynched him.Leo Frank became a symbol of religious and racial injustice. It is a reminder that the rules of law must be followed with exactitude no matter who the victim or accused may be, so that we may uphold the great principle that “justice, justice shall prevail.”MARION REISSBeit ShemeshAnother chanceHaven’t we had enough of our politicians hunting around for a cause to help them get reelected?This time it is the turn of New Right leader Naftali Bennett. In “Bennett: Break up “haredi” Chief Rabbinate monopoly to solve conversion “time bomb” (June 24), we learn that he promises to pass a law to ease conversion.Where has he been for the past 10 years? In the Knesset? While he was in the government, did he ever do anything about solving this issue, one which has been problematic for so many of our citizens for such a long time?How about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? The last time he had a problem cobbling his coalition together he vowed to change the system once he was again in power. Did we hear anything at all about that once he was ensconced?The old adage about voters “getting the government they deserve” may very well still be alive and kicking.ELLIE MORRISAsseretHelium to GazaInstead of finding and severely punishing the Arab arsonists who continue to launch into our homeland incendiary balloons that burn enormous acreage, the government of Israel has reportedly resumed sending helium into Gaza.Such an inane act can best be described by the bon mot, “The patients are running the asylum.” Why should the nations to whom Israel appeals to help fight Arab terrorism agree to do so when our own country enables the enemy by again supplying helium to Gaza?SHIFRA HOFFMAN, FOUNDERVictims of Arab Terror Int’l.Light toneI was surprised by the tone and content of Oded Revivi’s op-ed “Because of the elections, Israel missed a strategic opportunity” (June 25). The piece sounds more as if it were written by a someone from Meretz, Peace Now, or Gershon Baskin’s Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information than the mayor of Efrat and the international envoy of the YESHA Council.The idea that things are at a stalemate in the area because of Israel missing opportunities and not doing enough ignores the offers and gestures that Israel has made over the years and the constant rejection by the Palestinians.When will we start hearing what the Palestinians need to do to bring about peace in the area?Revivi says, “We often tend to criticize the Palestinian leadership for never failing to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” but this is indeed the one constant in Middle East affairs and is true today as it was when Abba Eban first made that observation over 50 years ago.It is time that the Palestinians indeed stop missing opportunities and become serious about finally solving the problems in the area that were created by them and their Arab allies.JOEL BLOCKHaifaPeace and the environment“Donald Trump: Good for Israel” (June 24) expresses a common belief here in Israel, but it is important to recognize why US President Donald Trump’s policies are actually harmful to Israel.First, at a time when climate experts warn that the world may have only about 10 years to make “unprecedented changes” in order to avert a worldwide climate catastrophe, when atmospheric CO2 has reached the highest levels in human history, when polar icecaps and glaciers are melting worldwide causing seas to rise, potentially inundating the Mediterranean coastal plane which contains much of Israel’s population and infrastructure, when, in short, climate change is an existential threat to Israel and, indeed, the whole world, Trump is in denial about climate change, has appointed other climate deniers to key environmental positions, and is doing all he can to eliminate or weaken regulations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions – in effect, pouring oil onto a raging fire.Second, by pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear deal, a move opposed by most nuclear and strategic experts, Trump has made war between the US and Iran far more likely, with potentially devastating consequences for Israel as well as the nations involved.Finally, while acknowledging the major role of the Palestinians in current threats, can anyone argue that Trump’s actions with regard to Jerusalem and the Golan have made peace more likely and terrorism less likely?RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ, PH.D.Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island
