Palestinian savior?
Regarding “Palestinians seek to turn China against Israel” (November 21), it is perplexing how Palestinian Islamists believe that if China supports their struggle or that of Kashmiris against India, this would endear China to the Muslim world. I am even more perplexed that they ask China to stay away from Israel because this is an anathema to everything China symbolizes and aspires to. I did my dissertation of the Uighurs genocide in Xinjiang. As far as I know, China has created a dystopian hellscape that consists of grim spider networks of surveillance and internment camps where torture, brainwashing, sexual abuse and rape are commonplace; all done to instill a secular, homogeneous Chinese identity and Communist ideals under the guise of rooting out religious extremism. My question is why are Palestinian Islamists abandoning their Muslim brethren and still believe that China is their savior?
DR. MUNJED FARID AL QUTOBLondon
Standing alone
Jonathan Feldstein (“Egypt: Past, present, future,” November 19) writes of his resistance to liking an Egyptian girl in school as he had understood that Israel and Egypt were enemies (he was right) and he hoped she saw him as being a Jew and not an Israeli as his father was (pretty pathetic). However, like many Jews/Israelis, he was overwhelmed by the visit by Anwar Sadat of Egypt to Israel in 1977. In fact what he and others were witnessing was the humiliation of Begin and Israel in the surrender of Sinai after a war in which we lost thousands of our soldiers yet won the war. That means of course that Egypt lost yet we surrendered!
If that’s not insanity then what is? Because not only did Begin agree to the surrender of Sinai but also the demeaning demands by Sadat that we also surrender Yamit which meant the forcible evacuation of all Jews living there. A sign of things to come ? The peace with Jordan in 1994 was no better for us as we then became subservient to another Arab country, giving up our rights to our holiest site, the Temple Mount where the Wakf is in control and, together with weak Israel governments, make a mockery of all that we stand for.
The euphoria over the Abraham Accords that former president Trump negotiated was pathetic because Trump had to bribe the Arab countries before they would agree as well as making it very clear that they expected Israel to make peace with the fake Palestinians and give them Jewish land for a state of their own. In fact they are all Arabs from different Arab countries, the only Palestinians being the Jews, given that name by the Romans in the hope it would make them forget who they really were.
The Romans, if they could see us now, would surely be proud. Former prime minister Netanyahu agreed to halt all building for the Jewish people not that he did much in that way. An Israel that knows who and what it stands for, does not need the Abraham Accords or any other accords. We were returned to our historic land, to build and settle it for the Jewish People. There is only one title to this land and it is ours. There was no point in our exodus from Egypt just to make us slaves again in modern times. We were always meant to be a people that stood alone and only as such will we survive proudly and with our faith intact.
EDITH OGNALLNetanya
Don’t wait
I absolutely agree with Aleeza Ben Shalom’s call for Jews to make aliyah now as singles and not to wait for a soul mate (“Singles – make aliyah now, don’t wait for your soul mate,” November 21). My personal experience supports it 100%, 1000%. Aleeza waited 18 years in the US with her husband before aliyah. I made aliyah as a single in March 1971. I met my wife-to-be a few months later, married July 1 and we celebrated our 50th anniversary a few months ago with many grandchildren, some already serving in the IDF. My wife helped me in my career, we have authored scientific papers together. She is all of a partner, sister, mother, lover and wife, not necessarily in that order. It shifts. I moved to Beersheba to be nearer her place of work in Dimona in ‘71 and we have a beautiful three-story home with two magnificent gardens: one ground based, the other, all edible plants and herbs, on a 25-sq. meter second story rooftop. Make aliyah now, don’t wait. Do it ! You won’t regret it.
YIGAL HOROWITZBeersheba
Crossing the line
Prof. Oded Goldreich may be a gifted scientist but like many left-wing Jews, he willfully denies the antisemitic genocidal reality of the BDS movement (“The Israel Prize,” editorial, November 21). Omar Barghouti, the founder of BDS, many years ago proclaimed that the sole purpose of BDS is to be the euthanasia of Israel. A student of history, Barghouti knows full well that the Nazi T4 Euthanasia Program was the foundation of the Final Solution of the Jews as enacted in the Wannsee Protocols in January 1942. Wrapping himself and BDS with the lexicon of the Final Solution of the Jews leaves no doubt Barghouti founded BDS to continue the antisemitic eliminationist mission formalized by Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann at the Wannsee Conference. For Prof. Goldreich to deny the foundational antisemitism of BDS demonstrates that he sees the world through the same rose colored glasses that Gertrude Stein saw Vichy.
RICHARD SHERMANMargate, Florida
Far worse
If you thought that the 2015 deal with Iran was the worst possible deal, you are wrong. The next deal with Iran is going to be far worse (“Austin: Tehran’s continued nuke activity imperils deal,” November 21).
Here’s why: Firstly, the Iranians have already won. For nearly a year, Iran has managed to delay and finally dictate the date of the start of the next round of negotiations. In the intervening period, all inspections of the IAEA have been prevented. The centrifuges have been running full speed ahead and production is way beyond the levels agreed upon. Iran has produced uranium metal that has no use other than as a component of an atomic bomb. The actual archives of Iran’s nuclear program, obtained by Israel, provide conclusive proof of Iran’s lies about the peaceful intentions of its nuclear program. Despite all this, the parties to the agreement have all turned a blind eye to the evidence and are virtually begging Iran to please return to negotiations. The main objective now seems to be how to accommodate the Mullahs of Iran.
Secondly, America no longer sees the Middle East as a priority. In 2012, president Obama warned Assad that using chemical weapons against his own people would be crossing a red line, and would have serious consequences. Assad crossed the red line and nothing happened. The message was clear. American deterrence could be ignored with impunity. Obama then stated that America was pivoting to the Pacific. The latest US withdrawal from Afghanistan clearly confirms the end of direct US intervention in the Middle East. President Biden is following the same ideology as Obama. Iran holds the upper hand and will exploit this all the way to the bank and more. Biden is 78 years old and has no intention of confronting Iran. He wants to reverse anything and everything that Trump initiated.
Thirdly, COVID was not around in 2015. Government deficits are climbing in almost all countries. The parties at the negotiating table are all eager to lift sanctions. Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia are all looking forward to doing business with Iran. They want sanctions lifted and Iranian oil to flow. They want Iran to be flush with money, so that it will buy the goods and services that they have to offer. They are not concerned with Iranian support for terrorist organizations that threaten other countries. Everyone is already lining up to do business with Iran.
Finally, appeasement is the only game in town. Some of the same negotiators that negotiated the last disastrous deal are back at the negotiating table. They have totally misread the nature of Shi’ite fundamentalism. They have ignored all the warnings and are eager to accept Iranian lies as the truth. In the final analysis all Israeli objections will be ignored. Iran is going to be the big winner. The writing is on the wall.
In 1939, Neville Chamberlain after meeting Hitler in Munich, brought back an agreement and proclaimed “peace in our time.” How wrong he was. History seems to have a habit of repeating itself.
NEVILLE BERMANRa’anana
Invented refugees
Regarding “Why is an Israeli minister fundraising for the Palestinians?” (November 19,) why is Israel wasting diplomatic energy to prop up the PA, the Abbas family’s goose that lays the golden eggs?
The PA is a corrupt, autocratic failure. In all the years since Israel’s foolish deal with Yasser Arafat, it has accomplished little. It has proven itself incapable of creating a prosperous civil society, living in peace alongside Israel. Additional international welfare will only help continue pay-for-slay.
Gaza, Ariel Sharon’s dream of Singapore on the Mediterranean, became another Beirut under Hamas’s brutality.
The PA, Hamas and UNRWA have conspired to trap millions of people in a so-called refugee status. Why is the world responsible for supporting the descendants of Arab refugees from the 1948 war against Israel? There are about 16,000 refugees still alive. The rest are an invention of those wanting to destroy the only MENA democracy and the only Jewish state.
It’s time to stop repeating the same errors over and over again and find a better solution for these people. Drumming out UNRWA would be a start. Bring in UNHRC to solve the problem. Demand massive reform in the PA and Hamas fiefdoms, or let them dangle on their own.
LEN BENNETTOttawa
Complete the constitution
I tip my chapeau to David Levine’s electoral reform suggestions (“Electoral reform for Israel,” November 18).
However, the last thing Israeli politics needs now is a second legislative body. This would mean another large building to house the newly elected representatives. In addition, creating yet another bureaucracy to support them. Another cafeteria would have to be built, where deals are hammered out. There is no doubt that regional representation is sorely lacking in the present system. This must be corrected in electoral reform. The higher threshold of 5%, as a minimum, would be helpful as well. Let us not forget Prof. Reichman’s 1992 unsuccessful attempt at electoral reform. No doubt, parts of it could be incorporated into our current system.
What we must have now is a completed constitution. About 80% already exists in the many basic laws that the Knesset has passed over the years. What is missing is a framework to enclose these laws, reform the electoral process, define the amendment process and finally, address the relationship between the nation and religion. The creation of a constitutional commission or convention must become a priority of our present government. The sooner the better!
JOSH WIESEN Haifa
Opinion vs. analysis
Gil Hoffman’s ‘analysis’ piece “If Bibi was still the boss” (November 19) really bothers me.
While I don’t necessarily disagree with the content, its format and front-page placement are what annoy me. Mr. Hoffman speculates about how, as he sees it, former prime minister Netanyahu and potential foreign minister, MK Miri Regev, would have dealt with the unjust arrest and imprisonment of Natali and Mordi Oaknin in Turkey.
Hoffman’s diatribe regarding Netanyahu’s presence in court this week is totally irrelevant. Nir Hefetz, star witness for the prosecution, was scheduled to begin his testimony; the defendant certainly has the right to hear it firsthand.
So potential foreign minister Miri Regev doesn’t speak Turkish? With the exception of Avigdor Liberman, no Israeli foreign minister, to the best of my knowledge, spoke Russian fluently. Did that affect Israel’s ability to conduct foreign relations with Russia? After all, we do have translators in Israel − plenty of them − and for every possible language.
Gil Hoffman is The Jerusalem Post’s chief political correspondent. He wrote an opinion piece, not an analysis of current events. The article should have appeared in the opinion section of the Post, not above the fold on the front page.
MICHAEL LAHAVJerusalem
Here am I
“Only God can save US Jewry” (November 17) was Gil Troy’s latest and most powerful chapter yet in his on-going explication of the existential “problem” of American Jewry. The leaders of Reform and Conservative Judaism in the first half of the 20th century were mainly the children of East European immigrants, thought to be “Orthodox” because they lived traditional Jewish lives and values, albeit distorted by the limitations of poverty and inelegant dialect.
Indeed, the parents knew the “how” of Judaism but not the “why.” In the absence of a credible answer to the “why” and in the face of the dazzling opportunities offered by America in education, business, the professions and entertainment, the individual found full expression for his social and cultural needs and talents. So, even if that generation may have felt that they were missing “something,” it would not occur to them that the “something” might be found in Judaism.
The well-intentioned founders of liberal Judaism sought to save “Judaism” by giving it a form similar to the American model of “religion” that is, a once-a-week social-cultural family activity. Over the years, however, as Gil Troy points out, liberal Judaism as “religion” has become “sterile, stale and forced.” Prof. Troy suggests that we must be able “to find God everywhere.” Right! But how will we recognize Him? I submit that the religious experience must have a cognitive element. God must be apprehended as the ground of all being. Not only as the source of the good and the beautiful but that these values are themselves in some sense radiating from God.
Also, God is the Lord of history. We can connect the dots and the blots of Israel’s multi-millennial journey to reveal the “hand of God” who engineered the way to our return as a sovereign nation state. Most enigmatic and unpredictable of all is that crucial moment when the “penny drops” and the “light suddenly goes on.” That is, when the wonder of the grandeur of nature makes the connection with the individual’s sense of self identity. This moment when a Jew sees the beauty of the land, the genius of the people, and the wisdom of the Torah as his heritage, as a call to him personally. And from somewhere deep within himself comes a voice: he nai ni – “Here am I.”
Thank you Gil Troy.
SHUBERT SPEROJerusalem