Letters to the Editor May 26, 2021: Ire in Ireland

Regarding “Irish parliament to vote on motion to expel Israeli ambassador” (May 23), I want to thank the staff of The Jerusalem Post for the great job you do. 

How beautiful your country is! It is sickening to see the level of BDS propaganda – the live and print news in Ireland – that appears to be coming straight out of Hamas. In the past 30 years a daily dose of incitement against Israel and America harvests loud antisemitic accusations endlessly repeating false demonizing words like “occupation” and “child killers.” 

Many of my friends and I never watch the Irish news anymore. Raised on the biased The Irish Times and Examiner, the youth in Ireland unfortunately know nothing else. Let it be known that not everybody in Ireland is of this mind. 

We pray for your success – for your nation to prevail and for the truth to go out. True history is the key to countering the ignorance. 

I wish the Israeli ambassador to Ireland a long term and encourage him to defend his country. God bless you all, many stand with you.

Be careful what you say – political correctness is here to stay. 

Moshe Ya’alon had to “walk back” his statement that Arab-Israelis would slaughter us if we were weak (“Ya’alon apologizes for statement against Arab-Israelis,” May 25). Have we all forgotten our history before the establishment of the State of Israel when scores of defenseless Jews were slaughtered in the 1929 Hebron massacre and 20 more in Safed? There were more than 415 Jewish deaths in the Arab revolts of 1936-1939. It is estimated that 685 Jewish residents of Mandatory Palestine were killed between 1920 and 1947. 

Aside from the Israeli Arabs, does anybody doubt the intentions of many of the surrounding Arab countries if given a chance? For what purpose do we have the IDF, the strongest army in the Middle East, to protect us against invasion from Denmark? 

As Aldous Huxley said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.” But at least you’ll know the truth (my addition). 

Accompanying the article “Unacceptable reality” (May 25) is a poignant picture of a mother kneeling on a road between Ashkelon and Sderot, covering the head of her daughter. 

The agonized, terrified, almost crazed look on the face of the mother grabbed my heartstrings and made me cry. As terrible as it is, depicting the 11 days of rocket fire from the terrorist Gaza Strip, this picture is the face of what Israel endured while more than 4,000 rockets were fired at us.

This is the picture, along with the caption that accompanies it, that should be shown to the world. Israel didn’t start this “fire,” and had every right to hit the terrorists and their rockets as hard as possible. How many armies warn their enemies ahead of bomb strikes, to prevent collateral damage or deaths?

Republican US House Representatives Doug Lamborn, Lee Zeldin and Joe Wilson, hit the nail on the head with one simple sentence: “In the end, it comes down to one simple fact: Israel uses its weapons to protect its people, Hamas uses its people to protect its weapons.”

Brilliant!

The people who call for a two-state solution have a serious blind spot if they wish to include Gaza as part of a proposed Palestinian state. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which has sworn never to accept Israel. So how can people intelligently and responsibly propose a two-state solution that includes Gaza without conditioning it on the elimination of Hamas?

Furthermore, Hamas has recently made serious inroads into the West Bank and east Jerusalem, effectively negating any ability of the PLO/Fatah faction to represent the Palestinians who live there. So who do the two-state advocates propose we talk to from the Palestinian side? You certainly cannot expect a reduced-size Israel to be willing to live side by side with a state controlled by a hostile Hamas.

A solution for the Hamas problem must be reached before the “easy” subjects of borders, land rights, religious places and so forth can be seriously discussed. So get real. Let’s hear a proposal for a two-state solution that doesn’t ignore the Hamas elephant in the room – or stop proposing one!

It may be naive on my side, but I am still amazed to see the harmful ignorance of the world media framing the violence of Ramadan 2021 as a conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This framing accepts Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who officially promote violence to achieve a worldwide Muslim theocracy, as the representatives of the Palestinians. It is true that many identify with Hamas and with Islamic Jihad, but what about the Palestinians terrorized by such extremists who strive toward sustainable peace and a shared life alongside or in the state of Israel? The world media dismisses millions of Palestinians when Hamas and Islamic Jihad are displayed as “The Palestinians.”

The Palestinians I know did not support the aggressions and would never choose to live under the regime of Hamas or Muslim Jihad. Seeing these nuances is not a privilege of scholars, it is a necessary act of justice for the Palestinian people and a crucial effort towards building a better future for all residents of the region.

Regarding “American Jews remove kippot amid a wave of antisemitism” (May 24), although reporters Shira Hanua and Ben Sales are justifiably concerned about signs of growing antisemitism around the world, I would venture to question whether their focus should be on wearing a yarmulke or placing a mezuzah on one’s doorpost.

Although wearing a yarmulke in public or in the secular workplace was generally not common in the US until the 1970s, it has become a matter of choice and Jewish pride in recent years.

Regarding the fears of the young lady in a ground floor apartment that her mezuzah might put her in danger, the common belief is that it does the exact opposite. Installing bars on a low floor apartment in New York City is actually de rigueur for Jews and non-Jews alike.

I would like to point out that most Jews in New York City who wear not only their yarmulkes but the full religious garb that unequivocally marks them as Jewish have no such fears are currently being sought for their votes in the coming mayoral election.

Legitimate Jewish pride is always respected, and will go much further I think, than self-doubt and fearfulness in bringing the issue of antisemitism into the open.

The rampant violence that Arabs caused in the streets of Israel against Jews who had been their neighbors for many years and mistakenly thought them to be friends, was caused by pure hatred and a denial of the Jewish Land (“Rehabilitating law and order in Israel,” May 23). 

The Jewish “extremists” referred to by Avi Melamed are those who still have the pride and faith in their just rights to this land as given to them by God to build and settle for the Jewish People. I feel no need to apologize to anyone that this land was given to the Jewish People and I feel no need to apologize that I want to keep it for the Jewish People. It is a small piece of land, whereas the Arabs have 22 states in which they can accommodate all of their people.

Mistakes were made by welcoming Arabs into the country and making them feel it was theirs and for that I do apologize. There can be no co-existence with people who want to take over your country and there will never be a guarantee that “friendly” Arabs will not one day turn on us as has been shown many times. Standing up for what is rightfully ours is neither extremism nor aggression. 

Regarding “Gantz: Can’t say aid won’t reach Hamas” (May 24), I pray that Defense Minister Benny Gantz will succeed in his efforts to prevent Hamas from stealing the funds and supplies that will be donated for the reconstruction of Gaza. The people living there have certainly suffered enough from Hamas’ treachery. And Hamas clearly has no intention of changing its ways, as evidenced by Khaled Mashaal’s telling The Wall Street Journal that Hamas would prefer that the funds be given directly to his minions and his calling on donors to support the “Palestinian cause” (by which he means the destruction of Israel, not the building of a Palestinian state).

It is entirely appropriate that any aid given be conditioned on Hamas’ releasing Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed and returning the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul as well as agreeing to close monitoring of all reconstruction work by supervisors chosen by the donor nations and responsible to those nations.

Jews the world over are shocked at the demonstrations protesting Israel’s defending itself against the unprovoked attack by Hamas and the firing of thousands of rockets into Israel because of the cancellation of the Palestinian elections that Hamas would probably democratically have won. Any other reason is an excuse for what happened and was fueled by the anti-Israel rhetoric of Bernie Sanders joined by the antisemitic “Squad” and inflamed by the added voices of anti-Israel Jewish groups such as “Jewish Voice for Peace and J Street.

Now it is accepted by the US, UN and EU that they must provide funds for rebuilding the destruction in Gaza that was brought about by the actions of the Gazans themselves. Even Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief who is critical of Israel in complicity with western EU countries, said frustratingly, “The EU cannot be expected yet again the rebuilding of Gaza without a meaningful prospect of actually solving the underlying conflict.” The problem of the “underlying conflict” is the Hamas charter (and that of the PLO) which calls for the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews.

The ignorant bandy about the grossly misunderstood “proportionality principle” of the Geneva conventions of (which seems to be designed specifically to prevent Israel from defending itself). If we, however, take it to mean what the uninformed ignoramuses believe it to mean that “proportionality” means proportion, then a proportion of the funds going to rebuild Gaza should be allocated to Israel to rebuild the damage done by the Gazans to Israeli property as well as replacing the costly Iron Dome missiles.

A terrorist was killed (oops, sorry, neutralized) by Israeli security forces after stabbing two Israelis (“Terrorist stabbing attack in J’lem wounds two,” May 25). 

Where is the proportionality, as rightfully demanded by many Israel bashers? The two stabees will live after a short hospital stay, possibly to be stabbed again, whereas the Palestinian freedom fighter (PFF) will never stab again. The most his family can expect is to be financially supported by the Palestinian Authority for the rest of their lives and possibly have a street named after him (unfortunately they are running short of streets). 

I demand a commission of inquiry to determine whether the killing of the PFF was justified. Could not the security forces have “neutralized” the PFF by shooting at his legs or fired warning shots in the air, without carrying out a ruthless murder? 

This is an additional urgent job for Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate yet another incident of war crimes by the Israelis. 

There is no question that there is much to be proud of with Eden Alene’s performance at Eurovision (“Israel’s Eden Alene finishes 17th in Eurovision,” May 25). Her performance was indeed filled with “charm, personality and high energy.” 

However, I found the choreography to be inappropriate. What is the message to young women who see this engaging singer, surrounded by young men, singing “Set Me Free” and ending with her in her underwear? During an era of #METOO we have an obligation to be prudent about putting our best face and message forward.

The editorial “The presidency” (May 24) continues the Post’s lurch to one-sided politics, providing its insight to the forthcoming presidential election. The paper endorsed Isaac Herzog for president as opposed to Miriam Peretz.

Herzog is well known as a former politician imbued with the politics of the Labor Party. However, the problem with government is that it is run by politicians, which is the negative hallmark of Israeli governmental system.

Conversely, Miriam Peretz represents the heart of Israel, devoid of politics and is representative of the finest in Israel feeling. It would be a significant accomplishment to have her as our President and also bring stature to Israel and her people.

From the editorial endorsing Isaac Herzog for president, it seems you are not aware of all of the election funding scandals he has been involved in, beginning in 1999. 

In a letter of mine published in the Post on June 24, 2018, I remind readers of the 1999 election scandal, when Herzog was accused of streaming funds from a Canadian charitable trust to amutot created to support the campaign of Ehud Barak. Herzog was able to stymie a criminal investigation into violation of campaign financing laws by invoking his right to silence. It was widely reported that other witnesses, most of whom were out of the country, refused to testify, and so the case was closed and he was never convicted. 

We have already suffered from the shame of two presidents; I hope we won’t experience it again.

“Israel and the Biden administration after Gaza” (May 23) incorrectly states “[the] Democratic administration in the US is hastening the arrival of an existential threat to Israel, a nuclear Iran.”

Actually because of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran shipped away 98% of its enriched uranium, dismantled and removed two-thirds (12,000) of its centrifuges, filled its heavy water reactor with concrete and provided unprecedented access to its nuclear facilities and supply chain.

Because former president Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018, Iran is now much closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Returning to the deal would greatly increase the time Iran would require to build a nuclear weapon.

Because of the above, most nuclear and strategic experts support the return of the US to the nuclear deal as the best way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon for many years, after which an extension of the deal can be negotiated or very strong sanctions on Iran would be reapplied.