March 6: Pride to Shame

Mr. Goodman, you don't have to agree with everything your country does in order to treat it fairly.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
letters 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Pride to shame Sir, - In his new film ("'Bashir' animator's short film shows Israeli hand clamping down on Gaza," March 5), Josh Goodman has transformed our pride in him to shame for his insensitivity in presenting Israel as the unfeeling aggressor in a war he knows full well is initiated and pursued by Hamas. Mr. Goodman also knows that Israel has provided Gaza with food, medicine, fuel, water and money, even during the years of its bombardment of Israeli communities. Mr. Goodman, you don't have to agree with everything your country does in order to treat it fairly. Why have you not shown the child used as a decoy, the Kassams aimed at Israeli little boys or the exploitation of innocent Gazans as tools to destroy Israel? Use your creative talent to show your hatred for unprovoked attacks. Show that when the attacks on Israel end, so will the closures and retaliations. DR. R. EHRLICH Jerusalem Words and realities Sir, - Words are powerful. They often create reality in the minds of their readers. I can't help thinking about the reality created by the editor when he referred to "ministers from Shas and Israel Beiteinu sitting together at the cabinet table - the former holding to rigid halachic formulations on marriage and conversions, the latter seeking to smooth the paths into Judaism for many of its immigrant constituents from the Former Soviet Union..." ("Israel's interests," Editorial, March 3). How different it might have been if only he had chosen other words. How about, "ministers from Shas and Israel Beiteinu, the former loyal to timeless Torah truth, the latter trying to tailor religion to suit the changing mores of its varied interest groups." Amazing, the different realities we create merely by changing a few words. NECHAMA GINZBERG Jerusalem Send funds here, please Sir, - Perhaps all the American Jews who voted for President Barack Obama could ask him to provide a small fraction of the $900 million that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged at the international conference for the reconstruction of Gaza, and underwrite rocket protection for the schools in Ashkelon ("Minister's rocket-protection pledge propels Ashkelon parents to send kids back to school," March 4). SIMCHA RUDMAN Jerusalem Ahhh, technology Sir, - Over the years it has become obvious to me that an official attempt by any government to charge either the Israeli armed forces or anyone in Israel with war crimes is doomed to failure. I propose, therefore, that people around the world create a Citizens' War Crimes Court, which will be sited on the World Wide Web. The court will have judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys. It will collect evidence, bring charges and, if warranted, hold a trial in which a verdict will be rendered. All of this will happen in cyberspace, immune to the influence of those who would wish to stop it. RANDALL NORRIS Rock Falls, Illinois