Saudi Arabia Always Gets a Pass
President Trump not only pardoned two turkeys for Thanksgiving; more importantly, he pardoned Saudi crown prince Salman for the grisly execution of Jamal Khashoggi – a murder that has revolted much of the world.
This pardon, though, is actually not surprising. After all, 13 of the 9/11 hijackers, who murdered 3,000 innocent people, were Saudi nationals. Yet, the U.S. undertook no punitive action against Saudi Arabia.
Essentially, then, the U.S. does not sacrifice petrodollars for any reason, even mass murder. It maintains a policy of “Saudi Arabia uber alles” – a policy Israel should keep in mind when faced with demands to make “painful concessions.”
Chaim ben Zvi
Queens, NY
The Arabs Must Go
Arutz 7 reported last week that “Israel [is] closer than ever” to launching an operation in Gaza.
President Trump, could you please try to stop the bloodshed that will lead to nowhere? Gaza residents received their independence on a silver platter but, instead of living in peace side by side with Israel, they chose to continue their religious war against the Jews which they started in 1882 when the first Jewish pioneers came to rebuild our ancestors’ homeland.
Religious wars do not end until one side annihilates the other side. There is no point making deals with Muslim Arabs because they never honored a single agreement they signed and never will!
Since 2005, Gaza residents have been held captive under the terrorist leadership of Hamas. If Hamas’ leaders are eliminated, another group of terrorists will take their place. There is no other solution but to resettle all Gaza residents in other countries.
There are countries in Africa who will agree to absorb them in exchange for financial aid. Perhaps some Israeli investors would also be willing to buy apartments in Gaza so that Gaza residents can buy apartments in their new countries.
Hannah Feinreich
Playing Partisan Politics – Republicans Are Just As Guilty
I wonder why you found it necessary last week to admonish the Democrats for being “obsessive about keeping Trump nominees off the Supreme Court” when Mitch McConnell publicly stated in 2016, “One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and said, ‘Mr. President, you will not be filling this Supreme Court vacancy.’ ”
If it is petty and immature for Congress to play partisan politics when approving judicial nominations, then it is petty and immature no matter who is doing it. And please don’t say it was different because Obama was a lame duck president at the time. Presidents are elected to four-year terms and the nomination was made in the beginning of Obama’s fourth year.
Second, Brett Kavanaugh was not on trial where guilt needs to be proven. He was being interviewed for a job. Even if we ignore all the unproven high-school and college-era allegations, Kavanaugh seemed to be proud at the hearings of his beer drinking and was rude to some of the senators asking him questions.
Would any of us hire him to work in our business or allow our daughter to date him without some further checking into his character?
Rivka Hershkowitz
Flying to Israel on the Cheap
I think readers should know that there are very cheap flights from Eilat Ovda Airport to Berlin, Milan, and Vienna. Sometimes they can cost as little as $20-40 roundtrip. Flying to the same cities from Tel Aviv usually costs at least 5-10 times as much.
Readers should also know that you can fly roundtrip to Tel Aviv on Wow Airlines through Iceland for about $500 dollars roundtrip during the summer. People can also save a lot of money by flying to Israel from Montreal or Toronto.
Levi Ginsburg
Brooklyn, NY
Subway Nostalgia
It is refreshing to hear that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit has begun running a series of nostalgia trains and buses to help celebrate the holidays in December.
Riding the old subway cars reminds me of a time when it was common to find both penny gum and soda machines dispensing products at many subway stations. Clean and safe bathrooms were readily available.
It was a time when people respected authority and law. Previous generations of riders did not litter by leaving behind gum, candy wrappers, paper cups, bottles, and newspapers. No one would openly eat pizza, chicken, or other messy foods while riding a bus or subway. Everyone paid his or her way, and there was no fare evasion.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, NY
El Al Must Apologize
I was horrified to read that the pilot of the El Al flight diverted to Athens, Greece “ignored requests from observant Jewish passengers to be allowed to disembark when it became clear on Friday the flight would not reach Israel in time to avoid desecrating the holy Sabbath.”
Apparently, the pilot told passengers before takeoff in New York that the plane was returning to the gate. He then proceeded to take off a few minutes later. If this report is true, the pilot should be dismissed for unprofessional behavior.
El Al initially alleged that charedi passengers were violent whereas others stated there was no violence at all. Many blamed the late arrival of the cabin crew to the airport for the severe delay. But the snow storms had been forecast; the crew should have been picked up from their hotel earlier. The passengers, after all, managed to arrive on time.
El Al must apologize, offer those stranded over Shabbat a full refund and compensation for the distress caused, and make sure this never happens again.
Martin D. Stern
Salford, England
Kudos to Women’s March Founder
It took courage and decency on the part of Women’s March founder Theresa Shook to call for Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Bob Bland, and Carmen Perez to step down from their positions in the upcoming march.
The march drew thousands of innocent women – believing they were fighting for women’s rights – into a trap where they unknowingly supported anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, anti-LGBT, and a whole variety of racist and hateful beliefs.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, an unabashed anti-Semite, loudly proclaims, “The powerful Jews are my enemy.” This is the man Linda Sarsour has openly embraced and the man that Tamika Mallory has labeled “The Greatest of All Time,” the “GOAT.”
We must applaud actors Alyssa Milano and Debra Messing who have already declined to appear at the upcoming march. May they become the new leaders of this movement, upholding the original aims of the founders: “To show the capacity of human beings to stand in solidarity and love against the hateful rhetoric that has become a part of the political landscape in the U.S. and around the world.”
Helen Freedman
Americans for a Safe Israel