By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)The real battle Seth J. Frantzman’s article’s title, “What did the ‘Great March of Return’ achieve?” (May 18) asks the right question, but unfortunately, he gives the wrong answer.The “Great March” was a stunning success for Hamas! The “Great March” succeeded in burying the news of the many Israeli successes that occurred during that week, including the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, winning the Eurovision, destroying much of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria, and hosting an important international bicycle race. However, instead of reporting these pro-Israeli events, the front-page story of the world press was that the Israeli army is ruthlessly gunning down dozens of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators at the Gaza border. This was the real achievement of the “Great March.”Hamas understands what we don’t seem to grasp.The real battle did not take place at the Gaza border; it took place in the media, and Hamas won this battle hands down, while simultaneously blackening the name of the Israeli army. I find it incredible that although we are the start-up nation of the world, we cannot figure out how to control Palestinian demonstrators without killing them.PROF. NATHAN AVIEZER Petah TikvaThere is no way Israel can effectively combat the Hamas propaganda campaign making use of the number of Arab deaths until one thing becomes crystal clear.Hamas actively promotes occasions that result in the deaths deliberately for that purpose and achieves its objective by making martyrdom worthwhile.The callous sacrifice of lives for publicity is so far removed from the morals and concepts of Western culture that it is always only Israel that is blamed. It is necessary to teach the world that each and every death is just what Hamas intended.
It appears that US President Donald Trump has already realized this.MORTIMER RABIN JerusalemGood to find Reuven Ben-Shalom back writing opinion pieces! He is always incisive and timely.In “Peaceful demonstrations? Yeah right!” (May 11) he was also prophetic, anticipating the misguided, biased headlines across the globe focusing on Gaza’s “peaceful protests,” without identifying the murderous objectives of the protesters and those who sent them.Unfortunately, there were those in the press who blamed the events in Gaza on the historic opening of the USA Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel, forgetting that Palestinian terrorism predates the embassy move by many decades.JOANNE JACKSON YELENIK Beit ShemeshLabour painsFormer London mayor Ken Livingstone, coward that he is, jumped ship and is now playing the martyr avoiding the investigation due this week into his antisemitic rants (“Ken Livingstone quits Labour over antisemitism row,” May 22). The Labour Party, including his very close buddy party leader Jeremy Corbyn allowed, this issue of expelling Mr Livingstone to fester for nearly two years.This is all a smokescreen to camouflage the deep-rooted anti Israel sentiments that morphs (although they will deny it) into the antisemitism that pervades the party and will prove to be mighty dangerous should the nightmare come about of seeing Mr. Corbyn ensconced in number 10 following a future election.STEPHEN VISHNICK Tel AvivBritish duplicity It would be wonderful to have dependable friends for a change.Turkish dictator Erdogan is president of a regime that invaded and illegally occupied half of Cyprus and now also parts of Syria, and has killed hundreds of thousands of Kurds. Erdogan says Israel’s actions are “worse than those of the Nazis” because Israel killed dozens of armed terrorists who were trying to invade from Gaza (“Row with Turkey over Gaza gets ugly,” May 17).Britain, nominally a “friend” of Israel, refused to attend the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, Thereby cold-shouldering two friendly states that are staunch British allies – the USA and Israel.Yet Britain welcomed Turkish dictator Erdogan on a state visit, including an official reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen – even though Erdogan’s regime currently occupies half of Cyprus, which is part of the British Commonwealth...Some things just never change, such as British duplicity, lack of moral fiber and the country’s habit of kowtowing to Islamist supremacists.Don’t forget it was British duplicity and manipulation that caused the Middle East conflict that still holds sway today.ILYA MEYER SwedenPeace Now hypocrisyRegarding “Police, Arab MKs clash in US Embassy protest” (15 May), it is very noble for the Peace Now organization to protest on behalf of the Palestinians that the US Embassy move to Jerusalem is “....taken unilaterally and without any recognition of Palestinians’ attachment to Jerusalem.”When UNESCO voted to deny any attachment of the Jewish nation to the Temple Mount, Hebron, what voice did Peace Now raise in defense of the Jews’ rights to their historic homestead?LEAH ISRAELJerusalemNot a binding treatySurely Ezra Friedman (“90 days and counting,” May 18) must realize that there was nothing illegal about US President Donald Trump withdrawing the USA from the JCPOA. He knows that the Iranian regime was fully aware it was not an international treaty binding the USA, as former president Barack Obama never risked seeking Senate approval.The tragedy about recent events is that neither the Iranians nor the EU and constituent governments took Trump seriously. The EU knows perfectly well that they have no effective means to protect EU companies who wish to trade with or to finance themselves through US markets, whatever exempting legislation is passed in the EU.The situation is little different from the EU countries ensuring the passing of UNSC 2334 in the dying days of the Obama presidency despite Trump seeking to prevent this.PETER SIMPSON JerusalemPointing fingers Gil Hoffman is right to point to Israel’s public diplomacy failures in matters such as the conflict at the Gaza border (“Gauging Gaza,” May 18). He draws our attention to the New York Times front page headline, “Israel kills 60 Palestinians.”But shouldn’t he have looked closer to home? The Jerusalem Post featured, as its main front-page headline of May 15, “55 dead in Gaza, as US opens embassy in J’lem.”MERVYN DOOBOV JerusalemLapid doesn’t get itAs much as I like Yesh Atid, I can’t vote for a party led by an idiot (“Lapid: PM’s ties to Christians risk US support” May 18).Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid’s latest broadside, asserting that “this government is totally identified with the conservative, evangelical branch of the Republican Party” is just flat out wrong. Israel’s failing support by Democratic Party members is due to increasing radicalization of the Democratic Party, its adoption of former US president Barack Obama’s plan to put “daylight” between the US and Israel, its support for Iran and Palestinian radicals, and the increasing anti-Israel positions of the party leadership, which is willing to scuttle bipartisan support for Israel in exchange for votes from Millennials educated to believe Israel is evil.Mr. Lapid adds, in sonorous tones, that “the vast majority of American Jews vote Democrat.” So what? American Jews are about 2% of the electorate, and our policies in Israel should not be determined by such an insignificant number of votes. Significantly, Mr. Lapid fails to note that the Democratic legislators were also invited to the US Embassy opening in Jerusalem as well as the party in DC but found themselves conveniently unavailable for either.As we used to say on the Left, “it doesn’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.”SARAH WILLIAMS JerusalemI disagree partially with Lapid about why the Democratic Party leadership in the US is going from being anti-Israel to being extreme anti-Israel. This is based on their history, especially since the Obama administration and two current examples.First, Senator Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, this week stated he agrees with the descendants of Palestinians from 1948 that they have the right to return to their homes in Israel, which would destroy Israel andSecond, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who also is Jewish, said that US UN representative Nikki Haley, on instructions of President Trump, made a serious mistake vetoing the UN resolution for an independent investigation on what happened recently on the Gaza border, endorsing the Palestinian view only, without stating Israel’s side of the story, especially since most of the Palestinians killed were Hamas or Jihad terrorists, as confirmed by these two organizations in video and print.Our government must make a strong case to the Democratic members of Congress to stay focused and not be afraid to stand up for their said positions; they should have come to Jerusalem for the inauguration of the US embassy or at least publicly stated their support of the bipartisan resolution passed more than 20 years ago.Bipartisan support in Congress is the only way to preserve the strong relationship that we have beyond a President who can serve at most only eight years.MURRAY JOSEPH Kiryat MotzkinThe Palestinian dilemmaWhat is wrong with the Arabs who have called themselves “Palestinians” since 1964, when the PLO was founded in Egypt to get rid of the infidels in MENA (Middle East and North Africa)?In the British Mandate for Palestine, only Jews were called Palestinians.Have today’s Palestinians not yet figured out that no one cares about them?Do they not remember that in the 1948 war, Egypt took Gaza and Jordan occupied the West Bank? Why did they not create “Palestine?” The answer is they recognized no Arabs called Palestinians. Their goal was to drive out the infidels and split up the land.How convenient for them to have the United Nations designate any Arab who lost a home in the war as a refugee if he had lived more than two years under the Mandate. The Jordanians offered anyone in the West Bank citizenship. The Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians and Egyptians set up refugee camps and sucked money out of UNRWA, supposedly to help the destitute. Later Fatah and Hamas joined in.Now is the best time for the Arabs to work with Israel and set up two states. Now, while non-Arabs are still willing to pay, and while Iran and Hezbollah are being kept at bay, they can make a deal with Israel and enjoy the prosperity their Israeli Arab brothers enjoy and develop a prosperous society. With the West paying and Israel cooperating, they have the opportunity to succeed.But this means throwing off the psychopaths who run the PA, Fatah and Hamas. It means accepting the Jewish state of Israel. It means acknowledging that if Israel were to be destroyed, there would never be a place called Palestine.However, perhaps the Palestinians would rather kill the infidels than have a country. That is their dilemma.LEN BENNETT Ottawa
