Some Facts, Please
I recently pitched an Israel-related travel idea to a magazine and was shocked when I read the editor-in-chief’s reply: “Israel? It is the exact opposite of what we stand for. As an ethical magazine, we don’t give that nasty apartheid country any positive press.”
Upon closer inspection, I saw that the magazine devotes an entire section to ranting about how awful Israel is and, of course, painting Palestinians as victims.
Due to rapidly increasing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, I am sure we have all encountered – or soon will encounter – people who believe anti-Israel lies. Here are some quick facts you can point out to them:
- On multiple occasions, the Palestinians refused land Israel offered them. In 2008, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tendered a peace plan that would have even entailed the division of Jerusalem, but PA President Mahmoud Abbas said no. Of course, eight years before that, Yasser Arafat famously said no to a deal that would have given the Palestinians almost the entire West Bank.
According to U.S. Ambassador Dennis Ross, Arafat rejected the deal because it came with a critical clause: agreeing that the conflict was over.
- If Israelis were truly genocidal, why would they treat 180,000 Arabs from Palestinian-controlled territories in their hospitals every year?
- Israel consistently sends humanitarian aid when natural disasters occur around the world – from Fukushima to Haiti and Nepal. When is the last time Hamas sent its soldiers to aid in disaster relief?
Eva Glover
Latino Immigrants Are a Blessing
In his arguments last week for reducing the flow of immigrants from Latin American countries (page 12 interview), Daniel Horowitz takes excessive liberties with facts.
He knows, for example, that English proficiency is not a prerequisite for citizenship or American nationality. If it were, children of Satmar immigrants would be tested for fluency in English. Likewise with his “welfare state” argument – that, too, can be applied to many charedim in America.
If anything, Latino immigrants are a source of potential support for Israel as many affiliate with evangelical Christianity. They may start out poor, but visit a Latino neighborhood and you will see their entrepreneurial spirit.
It’s wrong to lump all Muslims with ISIS and all Latinos with MS-13 just like it was wrong of lawmakers in the 1920s – when Jewish immigration was reduced to a trickle – lumped all Jews with communism and organized crime.
For readers who still support Horowitz’s point of view, I urge them to check the immigration status of the vendor on the street corner selling flowers for Shabbos or a cleaning lady helping with Pesach cleaning.
Horowitz’s argument for a “cooling off period” does not discriminate between refugees with legitimate needs and those seeking economic opportunity. This indiscriminate policy in the 1930s had tragic consequences for Jews. We ought to know better.
Sergey Kadinsky
Beware, Danger Ahead
Anti-Semitism, which never disappeared, is now popular again. It is not a hatred that will last for a few months and then vanish. It will only get worse. I have been making this point for decades in books and on various TV shows and YouTube videos.
Massacres occur throughout the world, but the media only speaks about murdered Muslims. Israel is the enemy because it wants to survive and the media does little to support it.
Wake up, folks. We are all in trouble. I beg you, people of all faiths: Start fighting back before it’s too late for you, your children, and your grandchildren.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Trump Should Thank Mueller
President Donald Trump may owe Special Counsel Robert Mueller a debt of gratitude. Mueller’s investigation has so far resulted in charges against over 30 individuals and three companies, none of whom or which have anything to do with Russian collusion or crimes related to Trump.
In other words, Trump has been subject to the most exhaustive investigation ever done on a president and come out clean. How many politicians in Washington would be able to do the same? What Mueller has unwittingly done is shown the world that Trump is truly an exceptional president.
Josh Greenberger
They Chose Sharpton Over AIPAC
You can judge the character of a person by the company he or she keeps. The following Democratic Party 2020 presidential primary candidates did not attend the recent AIPAC conference in Washington, DC: Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Beto O’Rourke, John Delaney, Jay Insle, John Hickenloop, Pete Buttigieg, and Julian Castro.
Several hid in the comfort of their Capital Hill offices where they held meetings with AIPAC representatives away from any media coverage.
Interestingly, though, most of these people found the time to attend and speak at Rev. Al Sharpton’s Annual National Action Network Conference this past week in Manhattan. The list includes: Beto O’Rourke, Julian Castro, John Delaney, Pete Buttigieg, John Hickenlooper, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker.
Anyone who cannot find the time to publicly attend the AIPAC conference but finds time to hold hands and kiss the ring of Al Sharpton is not a true friend of Israel. He or she does not deserve either your vote or your campaign contribution.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, NY
Ilhan Omar Vs. Kalman Yeger
So, Councilman Kalman Yeger has been booted from the city’s Immigration Committee for telling the truth about “Palestine” while Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) remains on the House Foreign Affairs Committee despite repeatedly spewing anti-Semitic lies.
Truth-telling now is a punishable political offense, while politically-correct lying lands one on the covers of national magazines.
Council Speaker, Corey Johnson, bizarrely found Yeger’s remarks “completely unacceptable, dehumanizing to Palestinians, divisive, and have no place in NYC.” But Yeger wasn’t speaking about Palestinians or their aspirations. He correctly noted that no “Palestine” has ever existed and could have added that one won’t ever exist till Palestinians, however, begrudgingly, accept the existence of the Jewish State.
If unacceptable, dehumanizing, divisive speech so upsets Speaker Johnson, he can find ample examples about Jews and Israel, on the sidewalks of New York where anti-Semitic incidents are now skyrocketing.
The problem is that “the Jews” are too far down the intersectional victim pecking order to be noticed. The parrying responses of their enemies have been all too effective. The most vicious anti-Semitic remarks are defended as “mere criticism of Israeli policies.” Those criticized assert that they’re “always falsely charged as anti-Semitic, so as to shut down free speech” and then add, “What about all those progressive Jews who agree with us?”
Identity politics is highly toxic societal poison. What matters is what one does, not what one is. Everyone should be held to the same standard of responsibility for their behavior. Reason, not emotion, should rule.
We are living in highly dangerous times.
Richard D. Wilkins
Syracuse, NY
Great Letters
Kudos to The Jewish Press for the excellent assortment of letters to the editor last week. Helen Freedman of AFSI was right on the mark when she wrote that “while AIPAC has many good positions, it fails when it comes to the one that matters most” – i.e., the “two-state solution.”
Stewart Epstein spoke for me when he criticized the Democrats for the direction they’ve taken in recent years, which includes a preoccupation with identity politics and bashing Trump. Their left turn bodes poorly for Jews, Israel, and the U.S.
Joseph Ceder’s letter castigating the Democrats for their failure to accept Hillary’s defeat was cogent and accurate. He was also right to call out Chuck Schumer for basically hiding under his desk when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton crafted the catastrophic Iran nuclear deal.
The only point on which I might disagree with Mr. Ceder is his comment about Bernie Sanders being Jewish. Yes, he was born Jewish, but his entire life has proven, beyond a doubt, that Sanders’ religion is socialism, if not absolute Marxism.
He is, without question, a persistent anti-Israel vote in the Senate. There is no circumstance that leads Sanders to conclude that blame lies with Israel’s enemies. It is always Israel at fault.
Myron Hecker
You Forgot To Give Soros ‘Credit’
In your News Briefs section last week, you mention “the Big Bots Project, a research group backed by the left-wing Tides Foundation,” which produced a report accusing Netanyahu of acting unethically during this election season. You didn’t mention, though, that the Tides Foundation’s operating funds are provided by the nefarious Israel-hating renegade Jew, George Soros.
Andre Monzain
Scarsdale, NY
I Prefer Trump Over Pence
I was worried when President Trump hired Tea Party favorite Mick Mulvaney to, not only be his budget director, but also serve as his chief of staff. I have heard from several reliable sources that it is largely Mulvaney who is behind Trump’s current budget proposal which would make cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
When he was a Congressman, Mulvaney was widely known for saying that Social Security is “unconstitutional” and a “Ponzi scheme” and ought to be abolished. He is an example of a growing number of conservatives who believe in (but will not publicly admit) “Survival-of-the-Fittest Social Darwinism and whose ultimate goal is to see all federal government social safety-net programs abolished.
Besides the Koch brothers (who at least openly admit that they want Social Security to be abolished), you also have many Social Darwinists in the House Freedom Caucus and Movement Conservatives like Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and Mike Pence.
That is why liberal/progressive Democrats like myself do not want to see Pence become president. We prefer Trump over Pence because Pence is much more conservative.
Stewart B. Epstein
Rochester, New York
