Undermining peace
Israel withdrew from all of Gaza more than two years ago in the hopes of peace with Gaza. The government of Israel evacuated more than 9,000 Israeli civilians from this territory. Since then more than 4,000 rockets shot toward Israel — rockets that are aimed at small towns and civilians. This response of rockets undermines the concept of land for peace and that if Israel withdrew to its 1948 borders there will be no hostilities.
When Israel responds militarily to these rocket attacks by targeting militants, there is worldwide condemnation; while in contrast, there is little pressure from the world to have Gaza leaders stop their attacks. How would the United States respond if Canada fired 4,000 rockets into the state of Montana? Would we be as selective as the Israeli army?
Manus Monroe | Sebastopol
Eye for an eye
Between Tuesday and Saturday last week, some 225 rockets have emanated from Gaza toward the Israeli town of Sderot, and a total of more than 4,200 rockets have been fired since Israel withdrew from Gaza two summers ago. Twenty thousand Israelis live in terror from these rockets that have killed dozens of innocents and wounded hundred of others.
Regrettable as the so-called “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza may be, some credible reports claim that the “crisis” was manufactured by Hamas to play on worldwide sympathies.
Facts, however, are facts, and as long as hundreds of rockets are fired from Gaza and aimed at Israel’s town and villages, Gazans can expect nothing but the same miserable lot that their morally bankrupt leadership has foisted upon them for the last two years. Stop the rockets and Israel will allow more goods to cross the border. Continue the rockets and Israel is left with no choice but to go after the perpetrators and use whatever leverage it can to impose calm on its borders.
And let’s not forget that abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has not been heard from in almost a year and is entering his second year in captivity. What of his fate?
Steve Lipman | Foster City
Expel Arabs in Gaza
Here we go again. Israel defends herself and Leslie Susser says Israel will worry about “international opinion” (“Is Gaza getting the message?,” Jan. 25). Some may wonder: If Hamas, the new Amalek of our times, was targeting Cabinet ministers and their families on a regular basis, would the Israeli government really worry about “international opinion?” We all know the answer to that.
There is a fourth option: Expel the Arabs from Gaza. Those who refuse to leave should be annihilated. Start the carpet bombings (Dresden revisited). Then send in the army to mop up. One day and it is all over. This is how Israel should deal with an entity that acts like Amalek.
We are living in a post-9/11 era. Arabs and Muslims are not very “popular” nowadays. Except for those who look at the “bottom line” and alike, no one really cares. Most will applaud Israel’s actions secretly especially after the fact.
Neal Wohlmuth | San Francisco
Missed opportunity
It was with great anticipation that my wife and I sat down to watch the three-part PBS series “The Jewish Americans.” To say we were deeply disappointed in the production would be an understatement.
It is our belief that the filmmakers squandered a golden opportunity to teach about and showcase some of the many incredible contributions our people have accomplished, adding mightily to the general fabric of American society.
We were happy to hear about Irving Berlin and Superman, of course, but way too much time was spent and wasted explaining Jews as slave-owners, Leo Frank, the Rosenbergs, Jews as communists, and the terrible breakdown in relations with blacks due to some perceived “Jewish teachers” strike in New York.
The long, meaningless “inside baseball” descriptions of Jews as “counter culture-ites” was shallow and self-deprecating, and the time, we feel, could have been better used as an educational tool highlighting some of the enormous contributions made by Jews like Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Dylan, Jonas Salk, Einstein, Saul Bellow, etc., none of whom were even mentioned!
Henry Michalski | Napa
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California