Are our left-wing MKs once again trying to place a wedge between different sections of our nation and seeking to manipulate our children to see all religious people as the enemy?
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Rewriting historyWith regard to “Rewriting history: How Rabin’s murder will be taught in schools” (October 26), it’s been a long time since I have read such nonsense, that the murder of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin had a “religious element.”Are our left-wing MKs once again trying to place a wedge between different sections of our nation and seeking to manipulate our children to see all religious people as the enemy? Maybe if children who attend non-religious state schools were taught a little about their Jewish heritage, we would see more clearly what “messianic age” really means.By the way, do they teach schoolchildren about the assassination of Haim Arlozorov? JUDY FORDPetah TikvaUnderprivileged PMYour October 25 lead headline “A-G: Ban on probes will turn PM job into refuge for the corrupt” seems ridiculous, implying that all potential criminals will now run to become prime minister in order to avoid an investigation.Elections are the essence of democracy and not a platform for criminals to be elected leader.Another argument raised by legal experts is that the prime minister should not have privileges denied other citizens regarding criminal investigations, and therefore his investigation should not be delayed. The opposite is true: The prime minister is underprivileged in comparison to any other citizen because his investigations are covered by all media and are full of leaks and political manipulation.
Discreet criminal investigations are a very important pillar in the legal system to which every citizen is entitled (except, apparently, the prime minister). But most important, the investigation of a former prime minister as a private citizen would deprive the attorney-general and the state attorney of the enormous power of being able to depose a sitting prime minister.SHLOMO FELDMANNGivatayimSexual harassment Reader Yigal Horowitz (“#metoo,” Letters, October 25) suggests that sexual harassment existed in Israel 50-60 years ago with a vignette related by his father about a Mapai central committee meeting.In a book about the experiences of children who were brought to England from Nazi Germany in 1939 (No Longer a Stranger, edited by Inga Sadan), my late wife Lore wrote: “I worked in the Kupat Holim convalescent home.... There I had the ‘privilege’ of treating many of the leading lights of the Israel Labour Movement. In recent years, accusations have been raised against them that their hands were continuously in the till. I and other young nurses can bear witness that this is a calumny.Their hands were somewhere else completely! In those days, no one talked of ‘sexual harassment’ and it was more than your job was worth to complain.”DAVID STEINHART Petah Tikva A woman wants equality in the workplace, but if a male colleague touches her shoulder, slaps her back or tells an off-color joke, suddenly she expects to be treated differently.GERARD JACOBSONNetanyaWith regard to “Mayim Bialik defends controversial ‘New York Times’ column on Weinstein” (October 17), the actress, in writing about the sex scandal surrounding Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, presents herself as an observant Jew. Yet her op-ed reveals an aspect of her that brings into question her adherence to a basic Torah teaching.Bialik wrote: “I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with.” She’s obviously unaware of Deuteronomy 23:18, which prohibits sleeping around.She is therefore a poor role model, especially for girls dazzled by Hollywood performers.MORDECHAI SPIEGELMANJerusalemRegarding “Dozens of women accuse Jewish director James Toback of sexual harassment” (Arts & Entertainment, October 25), I am shocked that The Jerusalem Post, of all news sources, insists on repeating the ethnic/religious origin of Harvey Weinstein and now – in case I didn’t know he was Jewish from his name – James Toback.I realize that the article on Toback came from Reuters, but do you not edit news from other sources? If the words “Jewish movie mogul Harvey Weinstein” and “Jewish director James Toback” appeared in the foreign media, would not the Post label these articles antisemitic? I don’t believe you highlighted the ethnic or religious origin of any other famous sexual predator, e.g. the Afro-American Bill Cosby.BEVERLY LEWINRamat HasharonDangerous passage To use a relevant metaphor, Michael Kleiner (“The paradox of capitulation,” Observations, October 20) is obviously plying a very dangerous passage via the straits of civilization.In order to seek to activate the form of warfare he advocates – which, if not meaning nuclear, must necessarily cost at the very least thousands of lives – there must be a moral base to his arguments.One does not find any.What would non-action by the US entail? It could not be any worse than the Soviet era, when mutually assured destruction kept the peace, for one can be sure that North Korea seeks only to rule over itself and not dominate other countries. In addition, any upstaging of North Korea would only find the retribution of Russia and China.H. GEEJerusalemHiggins-ish approachWith regard to “Spain to fire Catalan gov’t in bid to end crisis” (October 22), the strain in Spain stays mainly in the claim.URI THEMALKiryat TivonAnti-Trump When US President Donald Trump stated that demonstrators from both the Right and Left engaged in violence, you devoted an entire front page to a dissertation on his iniquity. A frontpage headline revealed to readers that Jared Kushner had met a Russian diplomat prior to the election. Also on the front page was information that professional football players in the US were offended that Trump thought they should respect the flag.Do you think The Jerusalem Post’s primary function is to regurgitate the anti-Trump “resistance” for English-speaking readers? Where is the front page devoted to the current US scandals – Russian bribery involved in the sale of 20% of US uranium stocks to a Kremlin-owned company by the Obama administration, and the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign paying for lies to smear Trump about a Russian connection during the campaign.Many people are apparently still in mourning over the departure of former president Barack Obama, who could well have succeeded in bringing about Israel’s destruction before he left office by allowing the current Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah entrenchment in Syria and promoting the Iranian nuclear deal.It reminds me of Groucho Marx, who famously said he wouldn’t want to be part of any club that would accept him as a member.NAOMI SANDLERJerusalemStop the cyclists!Every day, more and more pedestrians are being hurt by cyclists who ride at full speed on sidewalks without a bell to warn anyone.Sidewalks are made for pedestrians, not for high-speed (electric) bicycles. These riders must be stopped and heavily fined – they should be forced to ride on the roads in the same direction as the cars.Unfortunately, I speak from a personal traumatic experience.JENNY SHAYJerusalemCLARIFICATIONA sentence in “Saudis face daunting challenge in drawing Iraq away from Iran” (Analysis, October 25) erroneously mentions “Iraq’s large Sunni majority....”Iraq has a Shia majority, as stated earlier in the analysis. The sentence in question should have referred to “Iraq’s large Sunni population,” which comprises about a third of the country’s total population.