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]

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]

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]

James Adler on the Settlements: An Artificial Issue

Sir, - James Adler now adds grievous misinformation to his consistent insidious anti-Israel bias. Under the guise of neutrality, he focuses on the Israeli settlements and views them as the sole cause of the anti-Israel Western criticism and mindset. Adler chooses to ignore the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel environment that has plagued this area for centuries and unfortunately continues to find new avenues of expression.

Even disregarding the pre-state Arab riots and British hostility, the emerging State of Israel was met by invading Arab armies, determined to wipe out the Zionist effrontery. The 1967 armistice lines were established after Israel again succeeded in repulsing attacks by the armies of all of its neighboring countries. Those cease-fire lines were never meant to define its borders. The land won at that time was indisputably part of the mandated Jewish Homeland, and never belonged to any other sovereign entity. In addition, what must be borne in mind is that all the Israeli blood that was then shed was in defense of Israel, against those who were bent on its annihilation, long before the existence of any so called West Bank settlements. In 1964 the infamous PLO Manifesto was proclaimed and called for Israel's destruction, unrelated to any connection with Israel's territorial expansion.

James Adler now joins a long list of Israel bashers who refuse to recognize the fact that the settlement issue merely provides an artificial and convenient disguise for an anti-Israel animus by villainizing the constructive efforts of some of Israel's most idealistic citizens. Hatred does exist, but any fair-minded analysis would determine that it is mostly directed toward Israel and not vise versa.

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Wikimedia user Ling.Nut]

Wake Up Call: James Adler on Israel-PA Conflict

Sir, - James Adler's letter titled "Joint Effort" (J.Post Letters, October 23), is proven to be unfounded and a patent absurdity by the headlines of today. Adler's contention that Israel's joining the Palestinian push for a UN upgrade and leaving the West Bank would result in "the reduction of extremism and the creation of so much good will...[and] would be beneficial to all," unfortunately is completely divorced from reality.

The reality of today wherein over 50 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza and seriously wounding several people and causing extensive property damage, should serve to awaken Adler from his 'dreamland' euphoria. Schools in southern Israel had to be closed because there were not sufficient protection against the savage onslaught. Children and adults have suffered these terrorist attacks almost on a daily basis for the last several years.

All this despite Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza strip,uprooting thousands of families and shattering their lives. This unilateral gesture of good will has been repaid by hate, destruction, and the public declaration by Hamas of their pledge to never recognize the State of Israel.

Adler's unfortunate anti Israel bias blinds him to this reality, and he has been consistently oblivious of the many 'good will' gestures that Israel has made toward the Palestinians ever since 1948 when we were victorious against 5 invading Arab armies. We have returned prisoners, reduced roadblocks, offered to negotiate without preconditions. We have been repaid by the PA's heroizing of terrorists, the teaching and preaching of hatred for Israel in their schools and mosques, and their constant anti-Israel resolutions at the UN.

Wake up Adler! Wake Up!

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Nevit Dilmen]

Unwelcome Advice: Adler, From Vietnam to Iran

Sir, - James Adler of Cambridge Mass. has a gift for misapprehension, distortion and illogic which he attempts to hide by a glib quote from Thucydides.

He misapprehends the brutal reality of the continuous threats of annihilation that Iran directs against Israel and immediately upon achieving nuclear weapon capability would be converted into an attempt at Israel's complete destruction.

Adler distorts when he describes a letter as being 'decisive' simply because he approves of it, and when he states that "the only solution is diplomacy." He distorts most grossly when he describes the twenty year war in Vietnam as "an occasional miscalculation." It resulted in more than 58,000 American casualties, South Vietnamese 200,000, and North Vietman suffered over one million casualties. He further distorts by failing to mention the American debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Adler's illogic manifests itself when he urges diplomacy as the solution. Has he drawn that conclusion by the 'success' of the diplomatic efforts to halt the slaughter of 30,000 civilians in Syria? By the success of sanctions in slowing Iran's drive toward weapon capability? Does Adler have any examples where a tyrannical regime was persuaded by diplomacy? N.Korea? Pakistan? His illogic is further compounded by suggestion that Israel (the threatened party) is invited to accept Arab peace initiatives and cede territory without even a suggestion that Iran give up any of its nefarious objectives.

Israel deserves better advice!

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

Adler's Non-solution to PA-Israel Conflict

Sir, - In his desire to heap scorn on Martin Sherman, James Adler resorts to childish attempts at ridicule of Martin Sherman's unsurpassed ability to precisely and accurately describe the current political scene in Israel and the nature of the PA-Israel conflict.

While Adler insists on informing us that the Earth is indeed round, he fails completely to comprehend that the real questions revolve about the behavior and relationships of its inhabitants. He therefore feels he is able to pontificate and offer thoughtless and simplistic solutions to truly complex problems.

Martin Sherman possesses superb analytical ability which he fortifies with an abundance of facts and then presents his arguments with impeccable logic. Adler, it should be noted, while he mocks Sherman's linguistics, makes no attempt at all to deal with his arguments.

Adler's 'two state solution' has proven to be a non-starter. The facts are such, that the maximum that Israel can safely concede, does not begin to satisfy the Palestinian's minimum demands. Israel cannot afford to return to the 1947 borders without sacrificing the security of its citizens. Israel cannot afford to relinquish control over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount without sacrificing its legitimate historical, and religious heritage. 

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

Bigotry: James Adler on Israeli Racism

Sir, - Two aspects of James Adler's letter of March 18, I feel are in need of an appropriate response. The first seems to be his warped view of Justice. Under the guise of being fair to both sides, he repeatedly makes the point 'yes, rockets are evil' etc., but complains that the side that he admits to being the aggressor suffers more casualties than the side that they wanted to destroy. It would appear that his strange sense of 'fair play', would only be satisfied if confrontations between the police and criminals resulted in an equal number of casualties for both sides.

The second aspect is far more invidious and indeed unforgivable. He insidiously attributes the disparity in the number of casualties to a racist motivation, by twice describing the enemy as being 'brown'. This totally gratuitous, malicious, and mendacious release of the ugly genie of skin color, is evidently due to Adler's inability to explain the asymmetry by other far more compelling reasons. Adler is most comfortable to accuse Israel and the IDF of acting from the basest of motivations, and thus reveals himself to be not only a shallow thinker, but one willing to resort to bigotry.

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

James Adler: "Just a Few Active Terrorists"

Sir, - The Cambridge gentleman reveals his lack of understanding of Israel's real security concerns by his simplistic downplaying of the "few" active terrorists (James Adler, "What he Meant," Nov. 28). His failure to appreciate that these "few" are continuously being encouraged and well rewarded by the official P.A. representatives alongside daily anti-Israel incitement in their schools and mosques.

Thus the Arab-Israeli conflict dare not be thought of as a family spat where a little bit of sugar and understanding will resolve the issues. Almost all attempts by "our side" to ease security restrictions on Palestinians by removal of checkpoints or roadblocks have resulted in murderous rock-throwing or other terrorist atrocities.             

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

Responding to James Adler's Response to Me

Sir, - I heartily commend The Jerusalem Post for both good judgment as well as courage for printing my letter to the editor on Nov. 18th. The letter, however, that the gent from Cambridge wrote – berating me and the Post – on Nov. 21, I found to be totally disingenuous.

Does the writer believe that the security laws demanding authorized permits for entrance into Israeli territory are merely whimsical?

My letter cogently pointed out the very clear and present danger from terrorist activities that Israel faces. These comprise several cases of buses being blown up that caused mass casualties. The list includes restaurants, wedding halls, Passover Seders, and attacks on any public areas where indiscriminate killing can take place.

Our condemner mentions "our side" and pleads for understanding of the "other side". I also described the "other side's" continuing support and encouragement of terrorists by the PA. This now includes an attempt at unity with terrorist Gaza.

I conclude by stating that there is no "other side" when dealing with a terrorist Culture of Death.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Flickr user uckhet]