J.Post March 23: BDS - Wrong Prescription, Wrong Diagnosis

Reader James Adler leaves us with the impression that he sleeps very well now that he has concluded that he possesses the formula for ending the BDS movement and resolving the Arab-Israel conflict (“Rx for BDS,” Letters, March 20). To achieve this state of bliss, all Israel must do is “cease settlement expansion and end the occupation.”

It is worthy to note that when Adler iterates what Israel must do, he provides not even the slightest hint as to any obligations or requirements that are expected of the Palestinian side in order to reach this messianic goal. Some points of reality that he might want to consider are: 

1. The state of Israel is surrounded by hate and enmity, and the corrupt Palestinian Authority is engaged in active anti-Israel incitement in its educational system and mosques, so that the relinquishing of any territory is not doable now or in the foreseeable future. We have witnessed the results of our unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, where we were repaid with thousands of rockets.

2. The primary interest of the PA and its partner, Hamas, is not a state of their own, but the elimination of the State of Israel.

3. The discomfort of checkpoints is not the cause of terrorism. Terrorism demands the security need for checkpoints.

4. The settlements and occupation are not the cause of BDS, as attempts to boycott Israel have been a tool of Israel-haters ever since the state’s establishment.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petah Tikva 

(You can read Adler's response here.)

[Image credit: Flickr user claudia gabriela marques vieira]

J.Post December 7: Baskin's Israel-Blaming Bias

The theme of Gershon Baskin’s column last week (“Israel – My sad home,” December 3) and his solution for making it a happier place are replete with tired clichés and patently absurd conclusions. The absurdity is compounded when one realizes that Baskin for the last several years has been repeating the same banalities over and over again, without any attempt to critically question the validity of his arguments and with his propensity for blaming only Israel for the breakdown in negotiations.

Baskin claims that he has been engaged for many years in developing educational programs between Jewish and Arab schools. I believe that it is fair to ask if he has ever examined the hate-filled anti-Israel textbooks and curricula in the Palestinian Authority educational networks? As Baskin walks fearlessly through Arab towns and cities, has he ever noticed the street signs or the stadiums that proudly bear the names of unrepentant rabid Jew-killers? As he absorbs himself in the Arabic language and culture, has he been able to discern the fanatical anti-Israel sermons being delivered in mosques or the mendacity of the fabricated libel that Israel is threatening the al-Aksa Mosque, which thereby provide poisonous reasons for their minions to go out and slaughter Jews? 

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petah Tikva

[Image credit: Flickr user Diego Sandoval]

J.Post Magazine December 4: From Nuremberg to Israel

Sir, - The article "The Nuremberg Diary" by George Sakheim and the review of Efraim Karsh's "The Tail Wags The Dog: International Politics and the Middle East" both powerfully complement one another and help shed light on some matters of utmost importance.

George Sakheim is a retired 92 year-old clinical psychologist and one of the few living American army officers who served as a translator at the 1945 Nuremberg trials, and who recorded in his personal diary the interviews he conducted with some of history's most evil men. Efraim Karsh is a distinguished professor of Middle Eastern studies. They both share profound insights into the nature and essence of the virulent hatred that caused the death of millions seventy years ago and which is presently wreaking havoc on the Middle East. In addition to several peripheral issues that were involved in the horrors of WWII, needless to say the irrational hatred of the Jew was primal to those events. Professor Karsh cites "the barefaced anti-Semitism of the ruling elites" of Britain, that from the very outset challenged the Zionist enterprise, and its continued influence on today's events.

While Sakheim proudly asserts the leading role that America played in bringing the leading Nazi war criminals to justice, he is embarrassed to note that the U.S. has not yet passed a crimes-against-humanity law, and adds that this "has again made the U.S. an outlier in the community of democratic nations." Efraim Karsh also favorably notes the support that American presidents gave to the Balfour Declaration and for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, but goes on to state that the Obama administration has demonstrated "an unprecedented level of cluelessness and disregard of reality" and "went out of its way to deny, ignore, euphemize, and whitewash anything smacking of Islamic violence."

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

J.Post November 9: Editorial Distortions

Sir, - Your editorial "Terrorism, not terror" (October 29) has several unforgivable distortions that raise serious doubts about the objectivity of its writer. 

An editorial that justly portrays the murderous intentions and actions of the Palestinians and then devotes half of its content to the supposed sins of the Jews, settlers, rabbis, and crazies leaves the definite impression that there is moral equivalency between the two sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is one of the major distortions that has already been adopted by the UN, the United States, and, above all, the murderous terrorists themselves. 

It must be made quite clear to all that although we have some extremists in our midst, the murder of innocent Arabs never was and never will be part of our national program. It does not appear in our textbooks, We do not preach it in our synagogues, we do not name streets or stadiums after our 'terrorists' and there is no Jewish mother praying for the death of her son in order to reward him with the services of heavenly virgins. Not only do our people not joyfully celebrate the ugly acts of our miscreants, there is overwhelming national and individual condemnation of their behavior. 

Another distortion in the editorial is the identification of the masked attacker of Rabbi Arik Ascherman as a "knife wielding settler," when it is still unknown who the attacker was. It would be equally unjustified to distort the presence Rabbi Ascherman at the scene for the purpose of aiding Arabs in their attacks against Jewish farmers.

The most disgraceful and unforgivable portion of the editorial, however, is that which contains completely unsubstantiated accusations against the national government, settlers, and the IDF: 

"This is shamefully obvious in the official response to the persecution of Palestinian farmers by settlers, who deny them access to their to their farmland under the watchful eyes of nonintervening IDF troops."

These distortions serve to add fuel to the unconstrained hatred that surrounds our beleaguered state.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

J.Post October 29: The 'Palestinian state' folly

Sir, - The article by Michael Cohen submitted as a "Letter from America" with the title "Why a Palestinian state is essential" suffers from an obvious major flaw. While it very well may be an accurate expression of why America views a Palestinian state to be essential, it completely fails to appreciate the genuine existential concerns of the people of Israel, while at the same time reveals a gross lack of understanding about the realities of the PA-Israel conflict.

Since Michael Cohen lists himself as a Rabbi and a college teacher of conflict resolution, I unfortunately feel compelled to criticize the thesis of his article in relation to these two professional areas. One of the primary duties of a rabbi has always been to identify with the plight of the Jewish people, seek their welfare, and fight on their behalf. Rabbi Cohen expresses no empathy at all with Israel's fragile security situation, but with unmitigated chutzpah dares to suggest that his understanding of Israel's defense requirements is superior to that of Israel's democratically elected prime minister.

As a rabbi and conflict resolver, Cohen must understand that Israel is surrounded by implacable enemies and unrestrained fanatical hatred. The PA has never ceased its promotion of terrorism in words as well as in deeds. It heroizes the most vile acts of terrorism and constantly uses every vehicle at the UN and elsewhere to demonize Israel by invoking old blood libels, and obscenely accuses Israel of Nazi atrocities. It actively promotes terrorism in its schools and mosques. It joins itself with Hamas, whose charter calls for the annihilation of Israel, who has 'tsunamied' Israel with thousands of deadly rockets, and who has taken the lives of tens of our most precious sons. 

Must not everyone of sound mind and principle decidedly appreciate—despite Cohen's derision—Israel's insistence on maintaining its 'present very narrow and rigid security definition' for its very survival?

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

The racist attacks by against the IDF

Sir, - James Adler of Cambridge, Mass. has apparently chosen to abandon his persistent simplistic mantra of solely blaming Israel (because of what he terms the "occupation") for all the ills of the Middle East. He now expands his virulent anti-Israel doctrine by descending into the slime of pernicious accusations of Israel's indifference to the spilling of innocent blood as well as racial bigotry relating to the war in Gaza.

If it is at all possible for Adler to cleanse his glasses from the accumulated muck, I would like to acquaint him with reality by means of a number of well-documented facts.

It is Hamas that has in its manifesto the call to annihilate the state of Israel, and periodically attempts to do so. The lengthy underground tunnels they have dug from Gaza that extend into several civilian communities in Israel have no purpose other than mass murder and kidnappings. The thousands of rockets fired into Israel were designed to cause massive civilian casualties, and would have if not for divine providence and brilliant defense technology. All this despite the fact that Gaza has not been occupied since 2005, when Israel unilaterally withdrew.

Israel's desire not to harm innocents has been well proven by the warnings of imminent attacks supplied to the civilians of Gaza, and the military orders to avoid civilian casualties even though doing so often places the lives of Israeli soldiers in jeopardy. The morality of the IDF is second to none!

IDF delegation to India, 2001

Adler's references to the "brown" color of the victims, and his less than subtle accusation that color is a factor in Israel's military conduct, is nothing less than a disgusting attempt at barely veiled anti-semitism. 

Would it please Adler to learn that a goodly proportion of Israel's fallen soldiers and officers were of Ethiopian, Yemenite, Iraqi and Moroccan origin, and that Israel is one of the few places that enjoys a true ingathering of the exiles from every region in the world?

Evidently, Cambridge is not completely free of bigots.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Israel Defense Forces]

The Sins of Satmar

Sir, - One of the cardinal challenges with which Judaism confronts Man is the dictate of imitatio dei: to serve God by imitating His ways. The Psalmist describes Him as "Healer of the broken-hearted and the One Who binds up their sorrows."

As one who purports to be a rabbinical leader of a large Hasidic sect, not only has the Satmar Rebbe failed to follow these rather clear postulates, but he has chosen to add grief and pain to the shattered hearts of those holy and awesome families in the midst of their mourning by ascribing to them the blame for the death of their sons.

Instead of calling on these princely couples to do tshuva for sending their sons to learn Torah in the heartland of Jewish history, it would behoove the Rebbe to consider his own need of tshuva for pursuing a warped and decayed doctrine that denies sanctity and merit to God's miracle that is the State of Israel due to its not being established by the Messiah.

I fear that the dreadful and divisive statements of the Satmar Rebbe, when the entire nation is prayerfully weeping over its fallen sons, will give cause to the Messiah to further delay his long-awaited arrival.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Flickr user diluvi]

Zoabi: The Kidnappers are not Terrorists

Sir, - Although I hold Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein in the highest regard and consider him to be one of the most gifted and suitable occupants of high public office, I find myself in profound disagreement with his judgment regarding MK Haneen Zoabi. I was deeply disturbed to read the headline "Edelstein rejects calls to punish Zoabi for saying kidnappers are not terrorists."

While one may agree or disagree about the parameters of free speech, Zoabi, while serving as a member of Knesset, has time and again tested those limits with anti-Israel diatribes. She has clearly demonstrated her willingness to translate words into deeds by her participation in the attempt to violate the Israeli blockade of Gaza that resulted in the infamous Marmara Affair.

In her latest heinous offense she not only declared that the kidnappers were non-terrorists, but she offered to the world a 'justification' of terrorism. Since, she explained, the Palestinians are so desperate, they have no means of gaining reprieve for their plight other than through these extreme acts of despair.

Not only does Zoabi do violence to the truth about the condition of Arab lives alongside the State of Israel, she offers this as an excuse for the kidnapping of innocent civilian teenagers. It's obvious that her same pernicious reasoning justifies rocket attacks, suicide bombings, and Hamas's call to wipe Israel off the map!

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva  

[Image credit: Sergio Yahni]

Is Jonathan Pollard Being Held Prisoner by the Saudis?

Sir - Two former highly-placed public officials have recently shed light on the true motives surrounding Jonathan Pollard's sentencing. Both officials relate to the affidavit, put forward by the then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, that was responsible for abrogating the plea bargain between Pollard and the U.S. Government. This affidavit effectively brought about the end of the (already agreed-upon) plea bargain, and replaced it with a life-imprisonment sentence.

In a letter to President Obama recommending Pollard's immediate release, former National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane unequivocally blamed Weinberger's "anti-Israel agenda" for his disproportionate sentence and called it a "great injustice." Similarly, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb stated that the sentence was entirely due to Weinberger's "visceral hatred of Israel." The pathological animus that surrounded Pollard's sentencing found a potent soul mate in Weinberger, one who not only shared the hatred but possessed the motivation, means, and influence to assure Pollard's internment for three decades.

But as we've seen, Weinberger was not the only voice calling for Pollard to remain in jail. To the impartial observer, there appears to be a anti-Pollard agenda deeply ensconced among the leaders of the U.S government. Which begs the question: What type of damning information could Pollard have transferred to Israel that caused such malicious players in Washington to send him away for life?

First note that Pollard never sought to betray the U.S. or bring harm to any of its institutions. His only crime was wanting to aid Israel by supplying it with information he felt was vital to its security and yet being withheld from it. He transferred the pick of U.S. intelligence on Arab and Islamic military activity conducted by both "friendly and unfriendly" Arab countries, such as Morocco and Pakistan. The data included essential details about Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan, and Iranian nuclear, chemical, and biological-warfare capabilities, as well as planned terrorist attacks against Israel.

Pollard's revelations could not have sat well with the Arab world, but fortunately for them there was one country positioned to raise the cudgel: Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's possession of the world's largest oil reserves, its strategic location, and its unique role in the Arab and Islamic worlds are the reasons Saudi friendship is valued by the United States. They share common concerns and consult regularly on regional and global issues. These close ties with America, in addition to their vast oil-based wealth, provide the Saudis with the means to establish a huge network of pernicious influence throughout the United States. Firstly, they export Wahabism, the most extreme form of Islamic religious practice. They achieve this by financing the construction of hundreds of mosques and madrasas across America, and pay for the training and support of the fanatical imams that spread these teachings. Secondly, the Saudis invest millions of dollars 'buying up' departments of Middle East Studies and Political Science in select universities in order to spread their biased ideologies. And still more baneful is the Saudis' accumulation of out-going U.S public officials on their bloated payrolls. As former CIA case officer Robert Baer puts it, there is hardly a living former CIA director, White House staffer, or member of Congress who hasn't ended up on the Saudi payroll in one way or another. It therefore comes as no surprise when we learn of the Saudi funds going to the Carter Center, established by the former President.

I fear that Pollard, while delving into the various intelligent reports, may have discovered the more detailed accounts of Saudi influence on America's government as well as on past and present public servants. He did not stand much of a chance against Weinberger's deeply-rooted hatred of Israel or against Saudi Arabia's unlimited funds being channeled toward Muslim extremism.

Zev Chamudot

Petach Tikvah

[Banner image credit: Wikimedia user udi Steinwell]

EU Aid to Hamas: A Simple Question

Sir, - Based on a report appearing in the Jerusalem Post on March 23, 2014 informing us that the EU and UNICEF are launching a 10 million euro Gaza desalination project, I would like to pose a simple question to Carolyn Ashton. By all objective standards the question is eminently fair and just, especially in light of the EU's boycott of Israeli products produced in the West Bank:

Does not elementary logic and practical common sense dictate that before undertaking any project on behalf of Gaza and its Hamas government which is officially recorded in the U.S. and many other UN member countries as a terrorist organization, that any aid granted to them be made conditional on their abandonment of terrorism???

Or are we to understand that Hamas is being rewarded for their daily firing of rockets and the terrorizing of civilian population centers of Israel?

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit:  Flickr user Amir Farshad Ebrahimi]

The Kerry Treachery

Sir, - It is becoming increasingly evident that John Kerry has abdicated his role as an 'honest broker' in the negotiations between Israel and the PA. To the adjectives obsessive and messianic that Defense Minister Yaalon has already used to describe him, we must now unfortunately add treacherous in order to properly identify his diplomatic casuistry.  

The shocking statement reported on the front page of the Jerusalem Post wherein Kerry is quoted as saying that "it is a mistake to demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state" is the equivalent of a dagger being thrust into the very heart of the negotiations. It is a repugnant betrayal of Prime Minister Netanyahu who has made this the very fulcrum and primary condition of his agreement to enter into the negotiations, and this was made absolutely clear to the Americans. In fact until a short while ago, it was leaked to the media that the Americans backed this very basic and most elementary demand. The goal of the negotiations could only be reached if each side of the negotiations announced the complete end of hostilities and recognize the national rights of the other. This is not only completely logical and legitimate, but it places the absence of its acceptance into the realm of the bizarre and absurd and serves to render the negotiations a total mockery.

Kerry's perfidy, however, does not stop with Netanyahu; it also does violence to the entire peace negotiations. Kerry not only labels the demand 'a mistake' but by doing so he automatically grants legitimacy to Abbas' adamant refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He then proceeds to offer justification for this refusal based on the very tenuous arguments that the US and Arafat have already done so. Surely the Sec. of State should be wise enough to ask the simple question: Why then is Abbas so determined in his

refusal to do so? Shouldn't Gaza be cut off from the PA because of Hamas' publicly declared statements, backed by lethal rockets, which call for the continuous armed struggle against the Zionist entity?

The ugly truth that emerges is the fact that Abbas' intransigence, now supported by Kerry, will result in a halt to the negotiations, but instead of placing the onus where it belongs both Kerry and Obama find it more comfortable to blame Israel. In light of this reality, will Kerry still insist that Israel release the last batch of terrorist butchers into the loving arms of Abbas?

Finally, if Netanyahu's demand is labeled as a mistake, how would Kerry characterize the repulsive pressure brought on Israel for the obscene release of unrepentant murderers as a Palestinian precondition to the start of talks?

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Flickr user cliff1066]

J.Post Magazine April 18: Lies of the Pathetic Palestinian Leadership

Sir, - The heroic attempt to portray Dr. Mustafa Barghouti as a judicious, non-bigoted Palestinian leader is rendered absurd by his own statements and positions quoted in the article by Mati Wagner. What emerges very vividly is his insistence on repeating the same tired mantra that places the blame for the Palestinian's lack of significant achievements in the establishment of state-building institutions, as well as their lack of progress in the betterment of living standards for their people, solely on the state of Israel. 

Dr. Barghouti's intellectual integrity is seriously challenged by his seemingly total obliviousness to the history of the serious attempts by Palestinians and several Arab armies to obliterate the Jewish state. When questioned whether a reconciliation with Hamas would require the abandonment of their official platform that calls for the violent destruction of the State of Israel, he responds with the insensate and ludicrous statement, "Listen, this sort of approach just makes obstacles; it puts the carriage before the horse."

Barghouti aligns himself with the arch Israel-bashers when he emphatically asserts that what is happening in the West Bank is akin to apartheid. He defends this description by use of unconscionable lies concerning water allocation, claiming that Palestinians receive significantly less water than Israelis. While this canard has been totally exposed by each and every non-hostile, responsible water authority, the Palestinian's grossly irresponsible wastage and stealing of water, along with their refusal to construct vitally-needed sewage treatment plants despite more than ample international funding, is all attributed to Israeli obstacles and red tape.

The tragic irreconcilability of our positions can be clearly understood when reading Barghouti's statement: "I always said that the Israelis have taken the risks of wars and violence for 65 years. It is time for Israel to take the risk of peace." 

Please understand that Israelis have not 'taken' the risks of wars, Israelis have suffered the risks of wars that were forced upon them by an implacable enemy and those risks have increased dramatically when using honest lenses to view the bloodletting that is taking place on all our borders.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Wikimedia user Aude]

J.Post December 26: Delusions Behind Israeli Settlement Policy

Sir, - Isi Leibler once again presents us with a highly readable column, advancing straightforward facts and "A coherent settlement policy."
clear-cut arguments. He attempts to make a strong case for the necessity of Israel under the leadership of Netanyahu to establish what he calls

Leibler contends that the government's present ambiguous policy is the number one issue that is utilized by our detractors to vilify us. He cites several examples where Israel is facing increasing hostility on campuses, growing pressure for boycotts, as well as frequent anti-Israel U.N. resolutions, and claims that "the entire world is deluded into believing that settlements represent the principal obstacle to peace."

I confess I am truly surprised by Isi Leibler. While he is obviously correct about the desirability of a cohesive settlement policy, it would undoubtedly have little effect on Israel's maligners. Does Leibler really believe that even a total retreat from a pro-settlement stance by Netanyahu would reduce Israel-bashing in the least bit? Does he really believe that Abbas would then permit the presence of soldiers in the Jordan Valley or would agree to an undivided Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel? Would the PA president then be willing to declare Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people? 

I hope that Isi Leibler's response to the above questions would be in the negative, especially in view of the fact that he himself uses the term 'deluded' to describe those that believe the settlement issue to be the biggest obstacle to peace. It is important to understand that Israel is facing an implacable enemy and we therefore must remain forever vigilant in safeguarding and remaining true to our vital national interests, and not succumb to any perilous delusions.

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikvah

J.Post December 1: Europe Chooses Iranian Uranium over Israeli Innovation

Sir, – With regard to “PM convenes urgent meetings on stalemate over Horizon 2020” (November 26), permit me to alert your readers to the invidious differences between the way the European Union relates to the pariah state of Iran and how it treats Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.

Despite proven Iranian support and sponsorship of terrorism in many parts of the world, and the murder of many tens of thousands by Tehran’s puppet regime in Syria, the EU, together with other world powers, came obsequiously to Iran and went out of its way to sign a treaty that not only will cause no discomfort to the Iranians, but will effectively permit them to continue their enrichment program.

While not one of these powers dared challenge the Iranian leadership’s call for the elimination of Israel, they chose to reward Iran with the partial removal of sanctions.

In considering Israel’s request to show some flexibility concerning settlement guidelines that would permit its participation in the Horizon 2020 project, the EU’s response was callous and totally negative. Israel, whose scientific achievements are second to none, is forced to its knees because of Europe’s blind acceptance of the Palestinian narrative. Non-compliance with this political extortion would result in a huge blow to Israeli research.

The final score: Iran is given every consideration, including permission to continue violating years of UN resolutions demanding that it cease enrichment, and thereby is enabled to threaten the region with weapons of mass destruction – while Israel, the nation that “dwells alone,” is forced to curtail the research that has produced many of the major scientific and medical breakthroughs for mankind.

Zev Chamudot

Petach Tikvah

[Image credit: Wikimedia user Nanking2012]

A Two-State Non-Solution

Sir, - Several aspects of Susan Hattis Rolef's article "Netanyahu and the two-state solution" I found to be deeply troubling. While her concern for the confusion caused to her acquaintance from abroad by the disagreements within the government regarding the two-state solution may be genuine, she seems to be totally oblivious of the very real threats to Israel's security and well-being that the implementation of this 'solution' would engender.

I find it quite disturbing that the 'retired Knesset employee' is so quick to mimic the opinions of some acquaintance while disdainfully dismissing the validity of any and all governmental concerns. I personally reject the two-state solution for the following reasons:

• The reality of the hostility and instability that surrounds us does not leave room for a non-hostile Palestinian state. 
• The 'borders of Auschwitz' that existed in 1967 are even less defensible today with the readily available arsenals of offensive weaponry and rockets. 
• While the peace negotiations are being conducted, there is a deliberate, continuous flow of incitement and vicious anti-Israel invective that emerges from P.A. schools and mosques. 
• The continuous heroization of terrorists being vigorously conducted by the P.A.
• The unilateral withdrawal from Gaza appears to have only whetted the murderous appetite of Hamas, who openly declare their non-recognition of Israel and anti-Israel hostility.

Rolef also much too quickly accepts a distorted interpretation about the 'illegality' of the settlements and seems totally unwilling to give any credence to the many legal opinions that clearly establish our right to settle in Judae and Samaria. In short, I would much appreciate it if Rolef would for once use her writing skills to support the democratically elected 'good guys' -- and leave the Israel bashing to those too anxious to take up their cause.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikvah

J.Post September 12: Obama Exploits Pro-Israel Lobby for Syria Strike

Sir, – Despite the developments surrounding Russia’s proposal that Syria give up its chemical weapons, Israel is being forcefully thrust into the eye of a brewing storm surrounding a congressional vote on an American military strike (“Pro-Israel groups in the United States scramble to save Syria strike resolution,” September 10).

Despite the fact that our political and security officials have stated unequivocally that it is of vital importance for Israel not to be involved in this bloodstained internecine conflict, their wishes have been brazenly violated.

Both US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have made public statements declaring that one of the prime reasons for striking Syria is the defense of Israel.

This is an absolute falsehood, which ignores the fact that Israel is not a party to this war, nor does it favor one ignoble side over the other.

Israel does not require or seek outside protection in this fight, and the use of its name to gain congressional votes merely serves to drain any real humanitarian content from what should be an authentic effort to end the brutal slaughter of innocent civilians.

[Of course, if and when a strike does take place it would undoubtedly invite serious reactions from a number of pro-Assad sources, several of whom (Iran, Hezbollah, Syria) have already declared their avowed intention of targeting Israel irrespective of its non-involvement.] The European Union, the United Nations and Russia have each declared their rejection of the Obama program, thereby leaving the American president alone with only the pro-Israel lobbyists. Since “limited” actions tend to grow into larger, even regional, conflagrations – and even into world wars – the obvious villains will be Israel and the Jews.

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petah Tikva

[Image credit: David Illif]

Keep Jerusalem UNITED, Keep Jerusalem JEWISH

Sir, - Gershon Baskin's article is basically another one of Baskin's attempts to deceive and thereby influence the Israeli public towards accepting his perverse pro-Palestinian position.

The attempt at deception begins with the very title "Negotiating Jerusalem, negotiating peace" -- by which Baskin means that he would like to see Israel totally capitulate to the Palestinian position and accept their claims of entitlement to the Old City and East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Presently Jerusalem is united under Israeli sovereignty, so the P.A. has nothing to offer at the so-called negotiations other than what exists in Baskin's delusional scenarios.

United Jerusalem as Israel's capital affords unprecedented equal rights and access to all its citizens, as well as full freedom of worship. Throughout the millennia it has never served as the political or religious capital of any sovereign entity other than that established by the ancient Davidic Kingdom or the modern state of Israel. 

The hundreds of years of Muslim dominance in this region have always placed the capital cities in Damascus, Baghdad, or Istanbul -- but never in Jerusalem. Baskin has the effrontery to cite Jordan's annexation of East Jerusalem in 1949, when Jordan joined several other Arab countries in their attack to eliminate the new state of Israel. In the 19 years of Hashemite rule, Jerusalem was never considered its capital. It did, however, manage to divide the city by barbed wire fences and walls that cut off the Old City and the Jewish holy places from Israel and the Jewish world.

Baskin's unmitigated gall continues with his positive approval of the Palestinian position as including the entire Old City of Jerusalem including the Jewish Quarter and the Jewish holy places. He is, however, willing to accept a division of the Old City that would leave the Jewish Quarter under Israeli sovereignty while the other three quarters -- Armenian, Christian, and Muslim -- would come under Palestinian sovereignty. Under what flight of fancy should the Armenian or Christian quarters be turned over to Muslim rule, when faced with indisputable evidence of deliberate Muslim deprivation of the Christian community of Bethlehem and active anti-Christian behavior throughout the Muslim world???

Baskin is most treacherous when trying to tackle the question of the Temple Mount. He makes himself completely oblivious to the harsh reality where the Muslim Waqf absolutely forbids Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. A Jew is presently not permitted to move his lips without being stopped by Muslim officers. If this shamefully abusive denial of freedom of worship for Jews exists while under general Israeli sovereignty, can any honest and sane person other than Baskin truly believe it would change under Muslim sovereignty? I challenge Baskin to find any recognized Muslim religious authority that would back his claim that Muslim Sharia law permits the Jews to pray in the Temple Mount mosques. 

He goes on, cynically finding support for his anti-Jewish bias in some rabbis from the orthodox world who oppose praying on the Temple Mount. Their objection is based on the state of sanctity of the Temple Mount and their zealous concern that this sanctity not be defiled. He obviously does not understand that their opposition would have to include Muslims as well.

Finally, Baskin -- who is unable to offer any coherent reasons for denying the status quo -- asks the Jews to accept his Palestinian program and wait for the Messiah to solve the difficulties inherent in his myopic views. I too suggest that we all await the coming of the Messiah, but until then a united Jerusalem should and must remain the capital of Israel.

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

[Lower image credit: Wikimedia user Ori~]

James Adler vs. Martin Sherman: The Difference Between Light and Darkness

Sir, - In the Talmud, the Rabbis explain the necessity of having the Havdallah prayer placed in the midst of the fourth blessing in the Amidah portion of the evening service that marks the end of the Sabbath. It is the fourth blessing in which we express our gratitude to the Almighty for granting us intelligence and knowledge, and it is precisely those gifts that enable us to distinguish between the holy and the profane, light and darkness, Israel and the nations, the seventh day and the six days of labor.

James Adler asks why the Jerusalem Post continues to print the articles of Martin Sherman whom he labels an extremist. Adler himself, however, has displayed a remarkable, Pavlovian persistence in blaming Israel for all the ills of the Middle East. There has never been any indication that he possesses the ability to distinguish between light and darkness, truth and fiction, or reality and propaganda when writing about the Arab-Israel conflict. There has never been any evidence of his equanimity being at all upset by terrorist atrocities, hundreds of rockets falling on Israel's civilian population, vicious anti-Israel messages of hate emerging from PA schools and mosques, massacres of innocents in Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon, and turmoil in the whole region. One honestly wonders why his thoughtless letters get published in the Jerusalem Post.

Adler apparently cannot tell the difference between the support and justification of terrorism provided by Larry Derfner and the noncoercive, economically incentivized emigration proposed by Martin Sherman. The former supports death, while the latter attempts to find non-violent solutions to deal with the realities of the issues. His articles are analytical , deeply insightful, and well-argued, while the letters of James Adler are completely inane and offensive.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Alexander Smolianitski]

Honoring Jimmy Carter: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Sir, - Letter writer Naftali Bertram does a genuine disservice to those who are concerned with Israel's well being and security. He does so in a letter to the Jerusalem Post wherein he sows the seeds of moral confusion by justifying the award to Jimmy Carter for conflict resolution by students of the Cardozo Law School of Yeshiva University. Bertram correctly cites Carter's achievement in helping to engineer the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in the late 1970's, but rather blithely dismisses Carter's subsequent record of gross antisemitism and his insistent malicious slander of Israel as being in the forefront of practitioners of apartheid in the world.

The dilemma concerning the value of citing a positive achievement of a person who is a moral degenerate is not new. Most decent people are willing to see the achievement as secondary if it means dignifying the persons moral dissonance. The state of Israel is often confronted with the problem of playing Wagner, whose musical genius is undeniable but when weighed against the competing undeniable fact that he was one of Hitler's main ideologues, the decision to forego the music rather than dignify the ideology is unquestionably correct. Would it make any moral sense to praise Hitler for the fact that he got German trains to run on time, or for his oratorical skills, when we are confronted by his unprecedented bestiality and mania that brought death to millions?

Jimmy Carter is received today in the world's capitols, where he unhesitatingly preaches his hate-filled, anti-Israel apartheid gospel and whose doctrine is the most quoted by the proponents of divestment. He travels the world generating enormous malice to Israel and further exposes Israel to those who threaten her security. Does Jimmy Carter really deserve an award?

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

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