Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday July 13, 2007

Letters

Focus questioned

As a pro-Israel activist, I’ve often noticed that those who care most about Israel have either highly idealized notions of what Israel was, is or should be — or strict constructs for what can or should happen there.

Jonathan Tobin underlined this notion recently (“Sexy women won’t sell a state,” June 29 j. view) by suggesting that the Israeli government and groups like Israel21c err when they focus attention on something other than the need to solve the problems of the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.

I don’t question the primacy of the conflict; I do question the singular focus on that conflict.

The recent Maxim article wasn’t an effort to define Israel through bikinis; it was an effort to get the attention of a particular demographic. It’s part of a larger effort to show people that Israel is a diverse, vital society that has a conflict, but also has many other things that may attract, interest and involve people or add value to their lives.

Which Israel should the world know — an Israel defined by the conflict, or an Israel defined by the conflict and all of the positive things Israelis do as well? I think the answer is obvious.

Amy Friedkin | San Francisco
president, Israel21c

The naked truth?

We at BlueStarPR are dumbfounded about the Maxim campaign created by the Israeli Consulate in New York. While there is certainly nothing wrong with showing beautiful Israeli women, the submissive poses used are strictly low-grade pornography, without taste or humor. And for a campaign that claims to try to distance itself from Israel, the military power, why on earth would the consulate use women from the IDF?

When we have used “naked” bodies in our Israel advocacy efforts, it has been for humor, not for porn. This is deliberate. Most of my liberal friends, especially the “lefty feminists” who are among Israel’s biggest skeptics today, would find 1950s pin-up girl campaigns appalling, whether the women are Israeli or not.

Not exactly making points with Israel’s most challenging audience with this approach.

Jonathan Carey | San Francisco
founder, BlueStarPR

Insulting to Jews?

As a Jew, I cannot support the recently released movie “Mighty Heart” in any way. By ignoring Daniel Pearl’s final words, those who are responsible for the movie’s content insulted the Jewish population as a whole.

I want my children to know these famous last words Pearl spoke before he was so brutally murdered in the terrorist haven of Pakistan. But it is just as important for the world to hear them.

Pearl courageously said in his final moment of life: “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish.” His head was then cut off and pictures were posted on the Internet.

These words make up who he was. It is my opinion that if he claimed to be Christian, Daniel Pearl would be alive today.

Howard Roth | South San Francisco

Missing the mark

A story in the June 29 j., “GOP scrambles to explain opposition to Israel aid,” missed the mark in discussing a recent a vote in the House of Representatives on foreign aid.

A vote in favor of the foreign aid bill is one of the most important and tangible expressions of congressional support for the Jewish state.

AIPAC remains clear that it wants all members to vote in favor of the foreign aid bill and is disappointed when they do not, regardless of the reason.

The article correctly points out that some Republicans voted against the bill not because of any wavering of their support for Israel but because of family planning issues.

By drawing attention to partisan squabbling over the vote, the article misses the point.

AIPAC considers broad bipartisan passage of the foreign aid bill a top priority, no matter who is casting the votes. In fact, it has published the entire roll call vote on its Web site, as it has done with previous votes. We urge your readers to check how their member of Congress voted, and let him/her know that they support U.S. aid to Israel.

Russell Holdstein | Kentfield
member, AIPAC national board

Bait and switch?

Please look at the headline in the June 29 j., “GOP scrambles to explain … ” One would think Republicans had sided with Hamas. Then look at where it becomes evident that the sole focus of dissent to the bill was an abortion-funding clause.

How low can JTA get? More importantly, when will j.’s editors who know or certainly should know full well that this is lousy Dan Rather-like journalism challenge this kind of bait and switch?

NJDA tried this sham as well, and were slapped down immediately by the RJC (JTA also knows this and was criminal in forwarding this type of Elders of Zion “news” to its clients).

For me, it’s just another example of the brain dead among us when it comes to Israel and her security. Schumer, Levin, Waxman, Feinstein, Boxer et al. will do or say anything about the other side, truth be damned. Not to mention the fact that they knew full well what the impact would be by inserting an abortion-funding requirement in the major foreign aid bill. So cute.

Even AIPAC was savvy to their game and was repulsed by its odor.

I don’t know why this surprises me at all any more.

Marty Gans | Kentfield

A steep price

I was elated to read in the June 22 j. that Mr. T’s in Jerusalem, owned by Jerry Stevenson, is closing.

Speaking of Stevenson mocking Laura Bush for her supposedly bargaining for a $6 shirt (which I doubt), in 1997, as an Israeli soldier in the Golani Brigade, he charged me a pretty steep price for a large quantity of equipment I purchased for my entire unit of about 25 soldiers.

Yes, the IDF had shortages from budget cuts. He saw I could not possibly use the supplies in three years, and my uniform, and could not care less when he saw I was literally down to my last shekel. I bought the stuff for my unit and moved on.

In 1999, I bought a $320 item that was advertised as authentic combat IDF-issue, but when I received it -— having served in the IDF — I quickly realized it was a fake. He refused to refund me after I returned it.

I lost the money because he denied receiving the return, in the days before international verification of postal receipt of mail. I learned my lesson the second time.

Mordechai Pelta | San Francisco

A RESPONSE: Over the years, Mr. T worked with thousands of IDF soldiers. We sold army supplies at extremely competitive prices. We must have done something right, since this was an ongoing market for 30 years. We are sorry your reader was not happy with our service. However, as anyone who has a business knows, one can’t please all the customers all the time. The Laura Bush story is absolutely true. Your reader’s doubts are unfortunate, as is his letter.

Jerry Stevenson | Jerusalem

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.