Letters to the Editor: October 30, 2020: Righteous Voices
The readers of The Jerusalem Post have their say.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: PIXABAY)RIGHTEOUS VOICESFor years I’ve been reading the “Arab Media: Voices from the Arab Press” feature. Friends said I was wasting my time; they couldn’t stomach the continual Israel bashing, but I figured it was of interest to read the ‘other side.’Now my efforts have paid off in spades. In the October 23 edition, there were two excerpts from the Arab press (out of four) that aligned with Israel in the aftermath of the Abraham Accords, the two agreements with UAE and Bahrain respectively. The sea change that has come about in Israel’s dealings with Arab and Muslim countries is resetting the situation with the Palestinians.One article from Al-Arab in London quoted massive support of the Arab street for the UAE peace treaty with Israel. The other from Al-Etihad of UAE called the Palestinian leadership out for not defending the Palestinian cause. The article claims that Turkey and Iran have hijacked the Palestinian cause for nearly a quarter of a century, and acknowledges that Israel has had no real partner with whom it can enter into serious negotiations. Let’s hope that this message reaches the other side.DAVID SMITHRa’ananaPLAIN LANGUAGEThank you to Stewart Weiss for his latest column (“Thank you, President Trump,” October 23), who finally tells it as it is without including his views on Trump’s personality.FREYA BINENFELDPetah TikvaBEEFED-UP BACKGROUNDI would not object to calling too many of Yair Netanyahu’s tweets brusque, blunt, brash, even boorish and bullying. Nevertheless, Gil Hoffman’s profile of the prime minister’s son is missing something (“Yair Netanyahu: The rise of the son,” October 23). And that something is a bit of context.He does manage to quote one of his multiple anonymous sources – in fact none of his sources are named – noting that there are “attacks” on his family. Those attacks have been death threats, promises of physical harm, crude and menacing sexualized revilements, sneering insults and foul-mouthed abuse both virtually on social media as well physically outside his house.While that missing element does not mitigate unnecessary behavior on the son’s part, it would have provided a fuller background to the profile.YISRAEL MEDADShilohNOT NOWSeth Frantzman’s incisive and realistically pessimistic review and assessment of the Middle East (“Will there ever be peace?” October 16) brings to mind the story of the righteous and religious Jew who dies and arrives in Heaven. Welcomed and complimented by God on his exemplary life, he is invited to ask any question of the good Lord. “I have always tried to be a good Jew and a good Zionist, so it pains me to see our unending struggle with our Arab neighbors. Will there ever be peace?” “Of course,” comforts the Almighty, “but not in my lifetime.”DAVID WEITZMANModi’inCHARACTER & STATUREIt was truly heartwarming and uplifting to read the trials and tribulations experienced by IDF Capt. Hadas Daniel on her path to becoming an officer of distinction via an Ethiopian/Bedouin background (“Caught between two cultures,” October 16).The fortitude – no less courage – she appears to have displayed has seen her attain goals. In this current period of political maelstrom and pandemic crisis, it makes one rise above the sometimes deafening cacophony with a sense of pride – knowing that someone of Daniel’s character and stature has our backs.As ordinary citizens, her achievements can instill in us an additional realization and belief in why we are here, and that our future safety is in the very secure hands of such a major achiever.STEPHEN VISHNICKTel AvivNEW NORMALThank you to Pamela Peled for putting down on paper what so many of us fume about silently (“You gotta love the haredim,” October 16), and thank you to the Magazine for publishing her lovely screed.Several years ago while visiting Manhattan I encountered a large yellow bus arriving from Monsey that discharged numerous young haredi passengers, who hurried off to their various places of business. How normal, I thought to myself, young, educated, religious people working, earning a wage and paying taxes like normal citizens.Living in Israel for too long, I had forgotten that this was a possibility.NORMAN LOBERANTNahariyaTHRIFTY TIPSAs Gloria Deutsch states, in order to save money, by all means wash your clothes in cold water (“Save Some Shekels Now,” October 2). They may look clean, but I suggest you hang them up to dry in our wonderful Israeli sunshine so the ultraviolet rays kill off the germs that may still be lurking in your laundry. In order to achieve this in a washing machine, water ought to be heated up to at least 40 degrees. Of course, hanging the clothes outside means no need to use the very-expensive-to-run dryer, thus saving even more shekels.By the way, maintaining your electrical equipment in good condition should elongate the life of the machine, which again means a vast saving.Fancy a burger? Don’t order in. Make your own. Using even the best ground meat it will still cost you at least half the price as the ordered-in variety, and most likely will taste much better.Don’t throw away the stems of broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, etc. Save them to add flavor to homemade soups and stews. Leftover boiled potatoes? Make them into a salad. Squashy tomatoes? Turn them into soups. Overripe fruit? Hey, presto compote.There are so many ways that we can make one shekel do the work of four.By the way, do you really need those new shoes?BARBARA ANN PFEFFERRehovot
