By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Stopping terrorWith regard to the murder of Border Policewoman Hadas Malka and “Police arrest 350 Arab suspects, maximize security in Old City” (June 19), terrorism cannot be stopped from the top down – i.e., with our police. This has been obvious for decades. The offensive must come from the bottom up – the communities from which the terrorists come.Seal the Damascus Gate.Make life inconvenient. Use the New Gate, a bit farther away.And if it becomes a terror site, close that as well and make only the Jaffa Gate available. It’s a lot farther away (and also a lot easier to patrol as the single entrance from this side of the city).GERALD SCHROEDERJerusalemThe reaction of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after the terrorists involved in the murder of Hadas Malka and a simultaneous attack nearby were killed by the police was to issue a statement that their deaths were a “war crime.”The jihadists live in an alternate ethical universe. This is the time to expose it to the world.
Where does it come from? Ibn Warraq, the pen name of one of the great Islamic scholars of today, wrote recently: “Again during the caliphate of Umar, al-Mughirag b. Shu’bah says to his Persian adversary Rustam, ‘If you kill us, we enter Paradise; if we kill you, you shall enter fire,’ while the Muslim commander, Zuhrah b. Hawiyyah al-Tamimi, says to Rustam, ‘We do not come to you looking for things of this world; our desire and aspiration is the hereafter.’”MLADEN ANDRIJASEVICBeersheba Palestinian Arabs murder unarmed Israeli children and adults in the name of jihad and the world is silent, but it loudly condemns the same jihadist terrorism in London and elsewhere.This only serves to encourage it.You can’t choose which terrorism you like and which you dislike. Jihadist terror is jihadist terror, no matter where it occurs. It is never justified or excusable.What will stop Islamic terror is simple but not easy. Imams and all who practice Islam must begin citing the many passages of the Koran and hadiths that say jihad and the killing of “infidels” are holy acts; they then must denounce these passages as wrong. Unless and until this happens, we will continue to have more deaths.Not all who practice Islam subscribe to the notion of jihad, but many do. We see their bloody work on an almost daily basis.GINETTE WEINERScottsdale, ArizonaIt’s up to themThe two June 19 opinion pieces about the conditions in the Gaza Strip (“Don’t make life harder for Gazans”; “Israel still does not understand anything about international law”) are based upon assumptions that, in my opinion, are not correct.The “medical crisis” ignores the fact that Hamas is in charge and diverts a large portion of available funds to its military wing. If more of its funds were available for electricity for the civilian population, the citizens would be better off.If Hamas invested in infrastructure, Israel would be able to supply Gazans with additional power, leading to better medical services. Israel continues to allow Gazans access to its medical system, basically at no cost, but Hamas has tried to smuggle explosive devices with family members of the patients.The same response can be given to the claim that Israel is violating international law (whatever that is).Israel allows goods to be shipped to Gaza as long as they cannot be used against us. Since the Palestinians use this path to smuggle contraband, this slows the speed of the transfer process.Again, local Palestinian authorities should take the responsibility of ensuring that their citizens get the most benefit out of the funds, although if they were to build a port or an airport, Israel would have to spend time and money to make sure that contraband material doesn’t enter Gaza.Twenty-four years after Oslo, it is time for Gazans to take responsibility for their actions and stop blaming Israel for everything that is not perfect.SHMUEL SCHWARTZRa’ananaIn “Don’t make life harder for Gazans” by Dani Filc and Dana Moss, you have allowed the two writers to practice Israel bashing.Many organizations and countries that claim to support the Palestinians transfer money to Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. The solution to provide electricity and medicine is simple and obvious: Those countries and organizations that transfer money should transfer it directly to Israel to pay the electricity and medical bills. This solution also tests whether the money donated is for the Palestinian people or for actions against Israel.Instead of publishing articles that are designed to hurt Israel, it would be better to push for a practical solution.MICHAEL H. DAVISRishon LezionSorry, but I think I’ve missed something.Who exactly is responsible for the electricity crisis in Gaza? Why the perverted logic of blaming Israel? As is well known, this is a dispute between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas – it was the PA that in April informed Israel it would pay only NIS 25 million monthly for electricity for Gaza instead of the NIS 40m. it had been paying.So Dana Moss and Dani Filc would have us Israeli taxpayers prop up a regime sworn to our destruction? Have they considered that perhaps if Hamas didn’t spend so much money on weapons it would be able to pay for the power needs of all Gazans? The US administration has stated that “Hamas bears the greatest responsibility for the current situation in Gaza.”Why didn’t Moss and Filc write that it’s time for Hamas to live up to its obligations and protect the ill and infirm? SUSAN COHEN Tel Aviv In “Israel still does not understand anything about international law,” Solon Solomon contends that Israel’s obligation to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza includes providing Gazans with free electricity.Hamas has received more than enough money from European donors to pay for the electricity, as well as to rebuild the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure.However, it prefers to spend the money on tunnels to attack Israeli citizens, and on rockets to bombard them. If Israel were to provide free electricity to Gaza, it would in effect be subsidizing Hamas’s efforts to attack Israel.No country can be expected to subsidize its enemy in killing its citizens.LEE SPETNERJerusalem How refreshingRachel Lord, spouse of the outgoing Australian ambassador writes in “From Australia’s ambassadors to Israel to ambassadors for Israel to the world” (Comment & Features, June 15): “We leave Israel very different people to those who arrived four years ago. We are richer people, with a better understanding of a wonderful country, its people and the leading religions of the world.”Shalom and all the best to her. How refreshing – especially as earlier in the same issue, the news item “Police question Deri for third time in graft probe” informed us that the Lahav 433 National Crime Unit suspects Interior Minister Arye Deri of having become richer than expected. To paraphrase the Good Book, the Lord’s riches are preferable to an earthly minister’s riches.Against all the odds, I remain optimistic that our political system will attract people with Rachel Lord’s approach to service to country.RICHARD RINBERGRa’anana
