Thank you, Lenny Ben-David, for reminding or informing your readers of the role played by Indian soldiers in Jerusalem’s liberation from the Ottoman Turks in 1917.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Indian soldiersThank you, Lenny Ben-David, for reminding or informing your readers of the role played by Indian soldiers in Jerusalem’s liberation from the Ottoman Turks in 1917, and the consequent collaboration, formation and strengthening of ties between Israel and India (“Remembering the Indian soldiers who helped liberate Jerusalem 100 years ago,” Comment & Features, July 5).Wherever they immigrate, Indians tend to contribute their industrious and motivated talents to the benefit of their host country, as I vividly recall while having resided in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, where Indians were employed by my mother in her millinery workshop over 60 years ago and were happily integrated and appreciated by the workforce and my family.GISH TRUMAN ROBBINS PardesiyaOlmert’s release Regarding “Rivlin eases restrictions on Olmert’s prison release” (July 5), am I reading the news correctly? Did President Reuven Rivlin lift restrictions put on ex-prime minister Ehud Olmert after his early release from jail for corruption? At the same time, Rivlin is leaving a soldier in jail for protecting our citizens!Say it ain’t so!REBECCA RAABMa’aleh Adumim
With regard to “Olmert’s ordeal” (Editorial, July 3), former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s 16 months in prison do not compare to the almost 12 years of suffering by those men, women and children who were expelled from Gush Katif.Then-cabinet minister Olmert floated the Gaza trial balloon for prime minister Ariel Sharon and was ready to give away more to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, so spare us the tears for Olmert.AVRAHAM FRIEDMAN Ganei Modi’inRevisionist tintTo the best of my knowledge, Israel has not recognized a state of Palestine, with its capital in east Jerusalem. Hence, I was somewhat disturbed to read your Reuters article classifying schools in east Jerusalem that have Arab students as “Palestinian” schools and their students as “Palestinian” (“‘Carrot, not stick’ being tried to get Israeli curriculum into Palestinian schools,” July 3).The Arab children living in east Jerusalem are no different from those living in Jordan, Egypt or any other Arab country – and those are not called “Palestinian” children.Since there is no historical evidence of a Palestinian people having ever existed, and since a Palestinian state does not exist, it behooves The Jerusalem Post to avoid conferring a Palestinian identity on Arab residents of east Jerusalem. Doing so, it seems to me, falls under the category of historical revisionism whose goal is to promote a political position not held by the majority of Israelis.HENRY BORENSON JerusalemCore value With regard to “Giving medical care to wounded Syrians who arrive in Israel is ‘holiest of holy’” (June 2), the IDF Medical Corps has always provided medical care for all wounded soldiers, even if they are adversaries. This is one of the core values of the IDF and is being implemented today as the military operates a field hospital near the Syrian border and cares for victims of that country’s civil war.I served as an IDF medic during the 1967 Six Day War in the battle for Jerusalem, and as a battalion physician in the Sinai during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. I took care of many captured Jordanian and Egyptian soldiers. For me, they were human beings in need of medical attention.Even though I had mixed feelings about treating them, it humanized our adversary to me and I felt an inner satisfaction that I could still honor the sanctity of human life, a value on which I had been raised. I knew that as a Jew and a medical professional, it was my duty to do so.It is my hope that those wounded enemy soldiers Israel has cared for have served as emissaries for peace and reconciliation since returning to their homes. Hopefully, their testimonies will advance the cause of peace.ITZHAK BROOK WashingtonThe writer is a professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University.
