By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)
In the numerous articles and letters appearing recently in The Jerusalem Post regarding gun control in the United States, many solutions have been proposed. Yet they all suffer from one or more of the following impediments: legal, legislative, moral and fiscal.There is no question that a total ban on rapid-fire assault weapons would greatly alleviate the situation. But due to the obdurate stance of the NRA, most Republican lawmakers and staunch interpreters of the Second Amendment, there is no chance for such legislation.There is, however, universal agreement that people with mental problems should be unable to obtain these weapons.The resolution of this problem is now obvious: a declaration by all professional psychological and psychiatric associations that anyone who declares he must posses a rapid-fire assault weapon in order to ensure his safety as an American citizen is inherently mentally unstable. This will effectively remove these weapons from the market.I would also like to suggest a term for this new field of study: psychoceramics, or the study of crackpots.SAMUEL DERSHOWITZJerusalemA Polish priest’s wordsIn reference to “Polish priest says on public TV that truth for Jews is whatever is beneficial to them” (March 1), while appreciating what a number of Poles did for our people during World War II, this outburst by an ignorant priest is what leads to what we all know is antisemitism.Wherever the Jews settled in Europe, they were forbidden to partake in professions and other activities allowed non-Jews. So they set up trades and industry. They tried to fit in and follow the laws of those countries. After being thrown out, the places they built up became tourist attractions.I implore the world to behave itself and repair the damage it wrought on our people by supporting our settlement in our ancient homeland. Do not hinder our progress – you will be surprised by what we can bring to this world!S. GELGORTel AvivLook more closely at ADLOne must wonder about the raison d’etre of today’s Anti-Defamation League (“ADL report: Number of antisemitic incidents in US sharply increased since 2016,” February 28).If as, in your words, “the number of antisemitic incidents was nearly 60% higher in 2017 than in 2016,” clearly the ADL is doing a very poor job of combating Jew-hatred. Yet as we all know, American Jews have never had it so good – so good, in fact, that they are evaporating at record numbers into the larger society. Jews are being loved to death in today’s America!A closer look at the ADL’s hollow cries of wolf should really give one pause. To begin with, it has a vested interest in sounding the alarm, if only to generate the massive funds it needs to feed itself. As the last stop on the nominally Jewish philanthropic choo choo track, it can only generate revenue if it makes its largely assimilated donor base feel insecure.It is highly unlikely that the sort of incidents now being reported by the ADL increased at all in 2017. These garden-variety nuisances by fragmented and primitive loners are hardly unprecedented. Yet under ex-Obama flunky Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL only now chooses to amplify and magnify them, not in order to secure Jews, but to foment hatred for the current occupant of the White House.No further proof is needed than the fact that Mr. Greenblatt’s ADL totally ignores the real source of today’s Jew hatred: the leftist-elitist intelligentsia and the progressive wing of the Democratic party he so loyally served and continues to serve.It comes as no surprise that America’s mainstream media, led by The New York Times, has given so much ink to the ADL’s latest blather. They know what this is all about, and it has nothing to do with any concern for the Jewish people.J.J. GROSSJerusalemAppreciates the lettersMuch appreciated is reader Nathan Aviezer’s letter “Torquemada as columnist” (February 28), suggesting that the great humanist join your array of fearless regular writers as Gershon Baskin, whose strangely-titled Encountering Peace columns enjoin us to love everyone and thereby merit Mom’s apple pie.It would be wise also to memorize reader Jack Shebson’s realistic letter of the same date (“And now, the legal side”).ESTER ZEITLINJerusalemSharp line must be drawnWith regard to “Church of Holy Sepulchre issue being used to clobber Israel” (February 27), the decision by church leaders to close the edifice and the Jordanian foreign minister’s condemnation of Israel for actions that “threaten the presence of Christians in the Holy Land” were nothing less than hypocritical, sanctimonious grandstanding.This defiant church action and calling Israel’s effort to remove the church’s tax-exempt status in its business transactions “illegal” challenges our democratically elected government. Furthermore, the proposal to expropriate church land was the Greek Orthodox Church’s own doing – when it sold land for its own worldly profit to private investors, it placed in limbo the status of hundreds of Jerusalem homeowners. The proposed legislation is designed to protect them.A Church’s tax-exempt status is a privilege. A sharp line must be drawn between the spiritual services it provides and the deals it makes to enrich its coffers.ROBERT DUBLINJerusalemRecognizing JerusalemWith regard to US to move embassy in phases, beginning in May” (February 25), everyone understands that Jerusalem (at least its western sector) is the factual capital of Israel. Does anyone think that Israel itself, in final peace and security negotiations, would agree to anything but?It is well understood that this requires an agreement to achieve peace and security for both peoples. It’s why no previous US president wanted the embassy brought to Jerusalem – including Harry S. Truman, who immediately recognized the State of Israel.In April 2017, when Russia announced it recognized west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, diplomatic reporter Herb Keinon wrote: “Israel may be wary of applauding such a move, since it annexed all of Jerusalem in 1980 and deems the entire city – not just the western half – its capital.”When the Israeli government works for peace again, west Jerusalem will be recognized as Israel’s capital by all countries, including the Palestinians, who will have east Jerusalem. There will be peace and security for all.JAMES ADLERCambridge, MassachusettsThe train ain’t yet rollin’Was not the first electrified railway in Israel supposed to be the recently opened line from the Krayot to Karmiel? I have seen no signs of imminent electrification works as I drive down the Karmiel-Acre highway, which runs parallel to the railway. That line could surely have served as a trial route for the electrification of other routes.Having read the letters from readers Bob Gold and David Geffen (“The slow fast train,” February 23), it seems plain that the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed rail line will not be up and running for at least another year. Following this, there should be a running-in and testing period of at least three months before the line is opened to the public.Perhaps Transportation Minister Israel Katz wanted to secure a few political brownie points by announcing its opening by Pessah. But this should not be at the expense of risking a serious accident.SHIMON HAR-EVENSafed
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