July 14: The irony of it all

BARRY LYNN: For five years the proponents of unilateral withdrawal trumpeted the success of our Lebanon Escape.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters to the editor 88 (photo credit: )
letters to the editor 88
(photo credit: )
Irony of it all... Sir, - For five years the proponents of unilateral withdrawal trumpeted the success of our Lebanon Escape. Those who said that having thousands of rockets pointed at our cities was an unacceptable risk were pooh-poohed. Yet the irony is that the opportunity to finally defeat our enemies may never have arisen without the withdrawal from Gaza and Lebanon ("IDF set for massive assault on Lebanon," July 13). BARRY LYNN Efrat Sir, - I am always amazed to find letters in this column that echo what I was thinking, almost word for word. I agree with Ditta and Jack Rosenthal ("Wifely remedy," Letters, July 7) about setting up rocket launchers along the border with Gaza - and now with Lebanon. For every rocket launched into Israel, send several back. And while you're about it, why not paste a large label on each one stating that it is not intended to kill, only to scare, as Gaza's mayor recently explained. JOYCE SHORR Chicago ...maybe overdue Sir, - After another wave of cowardly attacks your government decided to step in and respond in a military way. It was a hard but necessary, appropriate and maybe even overdue decision. You Jews are strong people and you have been defending your soil, and the nation your ancestors founded thousands of years ago, in an admirable way. I, like so many of my fellow countrymen, will keep you in our prayers. And may God help and protect the members of your armed forces in their difficult task. May they all return home safely. THORSTEN MUELLER Germany No future in death Sir, - Re "Martyrs Brigades: We have 100 women suicide bombers" (July 11): Let me inform them that there is no future in death. DORON UR Melbourne Naive to a fault Sir, - It never ceases to amaze me how naive Gush Shalom is when it comes to relations with our sworn enemies. Spokesman Adam Keller argues (in "Taha's talk," Letters, July 13) that Arab MKs have every right to encourage armed resistance against the state they represent. While every sovereign democratic nation would accept criticism from opposition members of their parliaments, I'm certain that none would tolerate their encouraging terrorist acts, which is nothing less than treason. The big question is not why Arab MKs so often take such anti-Israel stands but why some Israeli Jews side with Israel's enemies. Is it out of humanitarian concern for the Palestinians, or simply their post-Zionism and naive blaming of Israel for surviving over 100 years of obstinate Arab refusal to accept Israel's legitimate right to exist? In either case, Gush Shalom is proving blind and deaf to the reality of the existential threat Israel faces. RON BELZER Petah Tikva Light to the lost Sir, - Sean Martin says that we in Israel should respect others whom we clearly don't understand and not play God, and adds that if the upcoming gay parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem offends us, we should simply not participate ("Don't play God," Letters, July 13). Implied in this message is that we do not have the right to reject what the vast majority of Israeli citizens deem the flaunting of an immoral and unnatural way of life which goes contrary to Jewish biblical and established family values; nor to protest and attempt to stop such a parade. Yet not only do we have the right, legally and morally, we also have the duty to fulfill our spiritual destiny as a nation that would be a light to the world - living out God's laws and principles. Israel is not supposed to be reckoned with the nations, but rather to be a beacon of truth in a world that has lost its way. COOKIE SCHWAEBER-ISSAN Gizo