Letters to the Editor: November 9

There are two simple ways to prevent the kind of fatal attacks that have been taking place in Jerusalem.

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters (photo credit: REUTERS)
Letters
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Latest violence
Sir, – There are two simple ways to prevent the kind of fatal attacks that have been taking place in Jerusalem.
According to reports, the man who shot Rabbi Yehudah Glick was previously incarcerated for security offenses. Therefore, do not employ known members of Hamas or persons formerly convicted of terrorism offenses.
The two men who deliberately drove their vehicles into crowds of pedestrians were members or sympathizers of Hamas. Such persons simply should not be allowed to drive in Israel; their licenses should be revoked.
All of this is akin to listing former sex offenders, since they are never cured of their disease.
Similarly, all Hamas members and all former terrorists should be banned from driving and working in Jerusalem.
How many more must be killed and maimed before the police actually take preventative action? Similarly, taking strong legal action against rioters throwing stones and firebombs would cause others to think twice before participating in organized riots.
YAAKOV BEN-MEIR
Netanya
Sir, – Call them what they are – terrorists! Those who are attacking are not drivers or activists or lone individuals.
They are organized terrorists! All they want to do is terrorize and put terror in people’s lives.
We need to act tough by not returning their bodies, not allowing them to be buried until we have all our soldiers’ bodies returned and buried in Israel.
REBECCA RAAB
Ma’aleh Adumim
Sir, – We see over and over again that the “spontaneous uprising” is orchestrated and not the result of impulsiveness at all.
We count on the authorities not to just go after rioters, murderers and their spokespeople, but rather to target the instigators immediately and mercilessly.
In addition, they should make deals with alternative leaders who are willing to deliver peaceful relations, and drop the ones who do not help. That way, we can restore calm in no time.
MOSHE-MORDECHAI VAN ZUIDEN
Jerusalem
Sir, – My child used to say “NATO” (no action, talk only) about people who threatened but did not follow through.
I have listened to enough lies about Jews in general and Israel in particular for so long that it is becoming difficult to respond to. So I would like to ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Isn’t it about time you stopped talking and started doing? A good start would be to issue the building permits he has for so long talked about.
Another would be to start telling the truth about who we are and what belongs to us – like saying often and loud that Israel in general and Jerusalem (north, south, west and east) in particular are Jewish! And treating Jews with the same kid gloves that Arabs are treated with.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, you, of all people, know that appeasement never works in the long run.
SIMCHA GODON
Jerusalem
Go on, tell them!
Sir, – I do not believe that the destruction of synagogues in Jerusalem’s Old City under Jordanian rule was ever raised as an issue to the world. Nor does the world realize that graves on the Mount of Olives were destroyed and headstones used in latrines and to pave streets.
(Attempts to destroy Jewish graves continued long after 1967. My own grandfather’s crypt, where he and a number of his sons are buried, originally had a glass dome that was smashed by vicious Arabs.) After the recent attempted murder of Rabbi Yehudah Glick, the government took a drastic step by closing down the Temple Mount both to destructive Muslims and, sadly, to innocent Jewish worshipers. Due to world pressure, the site was reopened to the undeserving Muslims only.
I urge our ambassador to the UN to tell the world in no uncertain terms about the fact that the Arabs are trying to steal our most sacred site, although Israel has been more than gracious in allowing Muslims to pray in peace.
ANNABELLE HOROWITZ
Petah Tikva
Sir, – Zionism made a mistake in talking of the exile of the Jewish people 2,000 years ago and how the Jews returned in the modern era. This allows people to think the Jews abandoned their homeland, presumably to the Palestinians.
Better to emphasize the continuity of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and how the Jews were subjected to 2,000 years of occupation in their homeland, which drastically reduced their numbers. In this way the case can be made that the Land of Israel never ceased being a Jewish possession and hence could never have been Muslim territory.
If this were to be widely appreciated in the world, the Jews might have the respect that usually accrues to indigenous people as defined by the UN, and the Arabs/Muslims/Palestinians might appear as invaders of the Jewish territory.
LARRY FELDMAN
Toronto
Profligate spending
Sir, – You report that various government ministries have been spending outrageous sums on gardening, car refrigerators, parties and so on. A very long list indeed.
This negligence and corruption is nothing less than theft and should be investigated, with the guilty parties brought to justice. Is it being investigated? Is this “Moneygate” going to be an outrage corrected or swept under the rug yet again?
DAVID ROTENBERG
Jerusalem
Sir, – If the behavior of Deputy Finance Minister Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) wasn’t so bizarre, the taking of state funds to the tune of NIS 3,534 for a portable fridge for his car would be laughable.
Quite how such a senior official sought to justify his behavior by saying, according to a TV news report, that he was driving day and night during Operation Protective Edge and needed refreshment beggars belief!
JONATHAN MARKS
Jerusalem
Deserving cases
Sir, – We have been bombarded in the press and on television with the high percentages of “deserving poor” in Israel.
There are even OECD figures.
Can anybody tell me if there is an analytical statistical breakdown of the figures (i.e., geographical area, age, sectors where poverty is “glorified” or sectors where cash is earned but not registered with the income tax authorities)? I live close to the periphery of villages in the Galilee and work next to the northern border.
The last thing that anybody can accuse me of is not knowing the material.
I came on aliya 45 years ago.
My first act of hesed (loving- kindness) in Israel was to bring shoes for the kids of Avivim. I fought the authorities (in bad Hebrew) to release the shoes without tax. Instead, a kind soul paid the tax.
Over the years I have set up schemes to financially help people in the Krayot, Haifa’s bayside suburbs. I helped set up a store in Nahariya for the distribution of second-hand clothing and dry goods.
With a bunch of volunteers in a well known military establishment in the North, we provided games, toys and clothing to Ethiopian children. A group of young religious Jewish men helped distribute Christmas trees and toys to members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) who had fought in our corner.
In each and every one of these cases we knew it was genuine if we had real figures and knew who was poor, making it easier to organize and distribute the help required.
None of the above had paid officials with expense accounts.
I implore the authorities and university staff in the field of statistics to bring forth true and genuine deserving cases.
YISRAEL (IAN) LAST
Kiryat Ata