By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Why publish? I understand that The Jerusalem Post likes to offer both sides of the political divide, but printing an opinion piece from a farleft Norwegian parliamentarian who supports BDS (“Why we nominated the BDS campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Comment & Features, February 21) crosses the line.The author tries to portray BDS as a non-violent, peace-seeking movement.The fact is, it disrupts free speech on campuses not by demonstrating, but by intimidating guest speakers and those who attend.Condemning Israel for the violence in the Gaza Strip without mentioning a word about the terrorism from Hamas and other Palestinian groups is another falsehood presented by the author.There is legislation in many states in the US that has outlawed BDS. There is condemnation in many sectors of society that the movement is not only anti-Israel, but antisemitic.Is it that important to print an article about why such an organization should be nominated? Is the Post afraid of being targeted by BDS?JONATHAN SURASKYRa’ananaLive and let live
In response to reader Jack E. Friedman’s letter on Messianic Jews seeking citizenship (“Treatment of Messianic Jews,” February 21), I would like to say that Jews should be able to believe in whatever or whomever they want, because being Jewish is first and foremost an ethnicity and not necessarily connected to the religion unless a Jewish-born individual so chooses to observe that religion.Mr. Friedman errs when he states that Messianic Jews are all missionaries desiring to achieve the conversion of Jews. That is a sweeping claim based on nothing but his own biases.As a Messianic Jew, I am not involved in any missionary activity. I happily and proudly remain a Jew and a good citizen of Israel, as do all of my Messianic Jewish friends who live in this country.If people ask me what I believe and why, I surely tell them, as would anyone else, but that is not missionary activity – at least not the kind I see on street corners as Orthodox Jews hand out their literature and seek to enlarge their own numbers.Each to his own. Live and let live – but the real crime here is denying a born-Jew the right to live in the homeland of his or her ethnicity by spreading blatant lies.NAME WITHHELDFar-off critic Reader Saul Heller declares that it makes him sad and sick that the Israeli government plans to deport foreign migrants who, he says, “finally found a safe haven in the Land of Israel” (“...but it makes him sick,” Letters, February 20). Well, his chutzpah makes me sick as well as very angry.Why does Mr. Heller think that from his distant home in Florida he has the right to judge us? He ignores the fact that this is the Land of Israel, a tiny piece of land that is the only place that truly belongs to us and is the safe haven for all our people (including for him, if he chooses). There are many large and wealthy countries with the necessary space and finances for people seeking refuge – including the one in which he lives.He should remember that over the past 70 years, Israel has absorbed millions of immigrants. Our tiny land cannot absorb just anyone because it is our duty to preserve room for Jews who want to come home.Only if he, too, comes home will he have the right to criticize our government’s decisions.PAULINE SHOMERHar AdarUnhappy with sample With regard to “Nearly 60% say PM’s ability to run country has been harmed by probes” (February 16), will we see a front-page spread in a coming edition of The Jerusalem Post showing the results of a poll taken among “552 respondents” proving that a majority of Israelis feel the prime minister should be investigated for returning an ill-begotten gift to Iran (Case 9999)?AVRAHAM FRIEDMANGanei Modi’in
