By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: PIXABAY)Delusions of grandeurWe must take the initiative and tell the “Palestinians” the truth – that they are not a “people” and have no national rights to the Jewish land, rather than allow them the delusion of believing otherwise (“Shtayyeh: Palestinians may revoke recognition of Israel,” 27 May).They have never recognized Israel and reinforce this with the constant incitement in their media and schools. Security co-operation is all that keeps PA President Mahmoud Abbas alive; we in our wisdom – or lack of – having prevented multiple attempts on his life by fellow terrorists.Shtayyeh says, “Israel wants to falsify our narrative about al-Aqsa Mosque and the church to make the Jewish narrative dominant. However, it will never fabricate history because we are rooted in this Land.” What narrative? What roots? They are a figment of the imagination of the Arab League which, in 1967, unable to defeat Israel militarily, came up with the idea of defeating us politically (sadly, it has had some success) by inventing a “Palestinian people.”In the 19 years of the illegal occupation of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem by Jordan, there was never any mention of a “Palestinian people” with rights to a state with Jerusalem as their capital. No Moslem prays toward Jerusalem but toward Mecca; Jerusalem is not named in the Koran even once.We have brought death and destruction to our people and land by allowing the Arabs to believe their delusions. We are obliged to build and settle our land, not surrender it and make parts of it verboten for Jews.PHYLLIS STERNNetanyaSo now the Palestinians are threatening to revoke recognition of Israel? Two points:
1) Since the PLO Charter still calls for the destruction of Israel, they never really recognized Israel’s existence anyway.2) Given their ongoing denial of the reality of Israel’s right to exist and of a myriad of related realities, what will they revoke their recognition of next? Gravity?DANIEL H. TRIGOBOFF, PH.D.Williamsville, New YorkMohammed Shtayyeh’s claim that the Palestinians may revoke “recognition” of Israel is nonsensical.Article 22 of the PLO Charter, which has never been formally revoked, calls for the “destruction of the Zionist presence” [Israel]. Any claim that the PLO has ever recognized Israel in light of Article 22 lacks truth.RICHARD SHERMANMargate, FloridaDemocracy not in dangerAccording to Webster’s dictionary, democracy is “a: government by the people, especially – rule of the majority; b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation, usually involving periodically held free elections.”Thus, the claim that democracy is in danger (“Rally to save democracy,” May 26) because of certain proposed legislative changes is specious if not spurious.What is being challenged these days is the rejection of democratic legislation by liberal secular values, as determined by the Supreme Court. Thus, democratic decisions (democracy) are being overturned by political considerations rejected, or at least not accepted, by the majority of the people and are certainly not within the purview of the Supreme Court. The threat to democracy is not from the Knesset.S.R. SAMPSONRehovotThe Supreme Court is the body responsible for the backlash of sensible and thoughtful people. The Supreme Court has, in the last few decades, taken upon itself the mantle of Unelected Rulers of the State of Israel. As far as I am aware, theSupreme Court is there to opine on the legality and constitutionality of any law passed by the Knesset. The Supreme Court is NOT there to make law but to adjudicate upon the laws passed. Far too often the court manages, by way of rendering decisions, to impede and frustrate the laws enacted by the legally elected member of the Knesset.So to the Supreme Court: do your job, that’s all.M. LEVENTHALJerusalemPreaching to the choirI read “The Pink Flour Mill – history as romance” (May 26) with great interest and wonder why it and other articles like it presenting the real facts refuting the “revisionists,” are not submitted to The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian or other newspapers. If the refutations are not accepted for publishing there, publicize them with the name of the newspaper that rejected them.What’s the good of publishing such refutations in The Jerusalem Post? We already know the truth.ROSALIND FENSTERPetah TikvaHaredi questionsIn “Haredi academics and employment: Too important to fail” (May 28), Stewart Hershkowitz outlines the successes and failures of the past years concerning increased haredi academic studies and integration into the Israeli workforce.Many questions remain unasked and unanswered. Are the haredi men and women being educated to compromise on various issues in the mainly secular workplaces? The picture above the article says it all. Eight male haredi youngsters line up to fill out forms apparently for job or study opportunities. No female youngsters are to be seen. Will the haredim accept the necessity to work sometimes in close quarters with members of the opposite sex or will the workplaces have segregation forced on them? If an important deadline approaches on a STEM project and the employees are asked to work on the Sabbath to save the company’s investments will the haredim (or at least a necessary number of them) comply? Will there have to be two workplace kitchen facilities for the employees, one kosher and the other non-kosher? Will haredim be given time off for daily prayers? Will the haredi men insist on their opinion of modest attire for the female secular employees?In short, as the percentage of haredim in the secular work force increases, will there be bickering and demoralization affecting productivity?YIGAL HOROWITZProfessor Emeritus of Radiation Physics(a STEM discipline)BeershebaIn reference to “Haredi draft: An unsolvable puzzle” (May 27), there never was a “blanket exemption of haredim” from the army.In the early days of the state, the leading rabbis appealed to prime minister David Ben-Gurion, explaining that the great yeshivas, the centers of Jewish studies in Poland and Eastern Europe, had been annihilated during the Holocaust, so Jewish learning was imperiled.Ben-Gurion, although not religious, was sympathetic to Jewish learning, and agreed that 400 iluim (gifted scholars) would be exempt from military service and would contribute to the State of Israel with their erudition.As a result of the machinations of the haredi leadership, this has grown to encompass all haredim – which was not the original intention of either the rabbis or Ben-Gurion.FANNY MYERSBeit ZayitJordanian viewpointRegarding “Jordan and the ‘Deal of the Century’” (May 28), Micah Halpern’s statement that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is no longer relevant, that King Abdullah II is now in a more weakened position than ever, and that countries in the region see Jordan as irrelevant, is both misleading and disingenuous.Jordan has always been the linchpin of stability in a turbulent neighborhood fraught with social mayhem and political instability. The Jordanian people may be modest in numbers, but their humanity and generosity is immense, driven by Islam, a religion of peace, compassion, tolerance, moderation, religious freedom, mercy, openness and modernity. The Jordanian monarchy has always been a global force for combating hatred and violence; a messenger for peace, cross-cultural dialogue and acceptance of the other.No Arab, Muslim or Christian will ever compromise on the sanctity of our holy places, on the right of refugees to return and on Jerusalem as a city for all three Abrahamic religions and a capital for a future Palestinian state. This has been and will remain Jordan’s success story since time immemorial. Israel must realize that peace will never come without justice for the Palestinian people.DR. MUNJED FARID AL QUTOBLondon, United KingdomMichael Halpern notes that Jordan “is no longer an important player in the region.”Invented and created single-handedly by the British 100 years ago in eastern Palestine (comprising more than 75% of the territory known as Palestine), Jordan is literally the second state in the “two-state solution” in which the “Palestinians,” who have always been a majority there, can and should realize their aspirations for self-determination. Never in all of history was there an independent “Palestinian” state in western Palestine – certainly not one with Jerusalem as its capital – and there is no logical need to create such a mini-country now.Accordingly, if it chooses to discard outmoded and unrealistic ideological positions, Jordan can again be an important player in the region – and have a constructive role in promoting a true reality-based peace solution that promotes the legitimate rights and needs of all parties.OFIR LEVIJerusalemNot precisely“Adieu, LeGrand K: The kilogram to be redefined for the first time in 130 years” (May 26) is notable for the number of errors it contains.1. The kilogram was never defined as the mass of 10 cubic centimeters of water at 4º centigrade. “Ten cubic centimeters” should read “1,000 cubic centimeters.”2. The first letter of a unit is capitalized if it is derived from the name of a person: Ampere (André-Marie Ampère, 1775–1836), Kelvin (William Thompson, Baron Kelvin, 1866-1892), Volt (Alessandro Volta, 1745-1827).3. In the past, the second was defined a 1/86,000 of a mean solar day, and not as printed in the article. It is now defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation, corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom. The reference to a pendulum in the article in this connection is completely misleading.4. The meter is now defined as the length of the path traveled by light in vacuum, during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second, and not as stated in the article.GERRY MYERS MIETBeit ZayitLone soldier struggleRegarding “IDF says fears of lone soldier ‘suicide epidemic’ are overblown” (May 4), I am angry and sad.I am tired of thinking about the last time that I saw my friends – if we talked enough, if I hugged them enough, if there was something I could have said or done. I am tired of knowing that I will never see them again – that we will never go out together again on the weekend, laugh about the things that we went through on base that week; that we will never again share how much we miss our homes – that they will never go to again. I am tired of hearing that there is no problem when soldiers go home on the weekends and they don’t have food or someone to talk to, that they feel so alone.It’s true that we volunteered for this and we do get extra things from the army. Some say we’re exploiting the system. Is he exploiting the system because he wants to see his family that he hasn’t seen for an entire year? Is she exploiting the system because she goes home a day early once a month to buy food and pay bills? Am I exploiting the system because I get a higher salary so that I can eat and live?These are people who gave their lives to Israel, who felt that it is so important to protect this country that they left their lives in their home countries to enlist in the Israeli army. People say that it isn’t new that lone soldiers are committing suicide so often. That is disgraceful. Is it okay that in the last four months alone, at least three lone soldiers committed suicide? We shouldn’t worry, because this is normal?I can’t just wait silently until the next lone soldier, my next friend, commits suicide. I can’t go on hearing people say that we need change – and nothing changes. Our country cares when a soldier commits suicide and two days later we forget. We can’t forget. We are not allowed to forget.People say they didn’t know, they can’t believe it. Believe it. It is happening – far too much. We came here to protect the country. Who is protecting us?VIVIEN FIERBERGHerzliyaRegarding “Protecting Lone Soldiers” (May 22), my whole career focused on aliyah and klita (absorption) and Zionist education for youth and young adults. For decades, I followed the evolution of programs and trends in these areas.Programs that encourage young Diaspora adults to come and serve in the IDF have had many success stories, but there are two points that have always concerned me in this realm.First is preparation. Army service, with all its demands in what is still for most a foreign country and one with violent enemies, places great psychological, emotional and practical demands on young people. Thorough preparation, including fluency in the language and culture and a solid personal and social framework, should be a precondition.Second, service in Tzahal is a privilege and duty for Israelis who have made a choice to live in this country – not an adventure for thrill seekers like a French Foreign Legion. Service should follow a well-developed decision to make one’s life in Israel and not precede it.When Israel was fighting for its independence and survival, I would have felt differently and justified the participation of Diaspora Jews coming to help. That is no longer the case.If these standards were more rigorously applied, it would reduce the incidence of lone soldier suicides.DAN KRAKOWJerusalem
