Letters to the Editor August 9, 2021: Olympics & the Dolgopyat dilemma

The Dolgopyat family was most assuredly made aware of what being a non-Jew in the State of Israel meant prior to making aliya, but that made no difference to Mrs. Dolgopyat. No sooner did her son Artem win, most deservedly so, the gold medal in the important Artistic Gymnastics Olympics event than she introduced into the international arena the fact that Israel has no provision for civil marriage and her son cannot marry in the country he brought unprecedented glory to. Quite the Jewish mother, even for one who is not Jewish.

Her actions come, of course, as no surprise. After all, no doubt she would like very much to be a grandmother and would prefer that her son not “live in sin” (or whatever it’s called today). It was an opportunity too good to resist, and judging from the reaction her chutzpah generated, she succeeded in moving the issue of civil marriage from the back burner to a more prominent position. The rules, though, remain unchanged, and the attention given to the issue will very quickly focus elsewhere.

What is surprising, though, is the readiness of responsible and respected journalists to so quickly alter the existing paradigm. Surely, they need not be reminded of the already volatile debate centering around the question of “Who is a Jew.” Civil marriage would only add to the confusion and, worse, further corrode the already fragile unity of the Jewish people. I’m aware that more liberal factions of Judaism have adopted a more compromising approach and now recognize patrilineal as well as matrilineal descent, but Israel, thankfully, has not yet reached that level. We have, moreover, affirmed that Israel is a Jewish state in accordance with the recently passed Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People legislation. Civil marriage presents a direct contradiction to that law.

The issue of civil marriage needs to be removed from public debate and discussion once and for all. Artem and his mother, I’m sure, will find this very unsettling and will undoubtedly search high and low for a workaround. I just hope this won’t interfere with his preparation for Paris 2024.

Following Linoy Ashram’s incredible gold medal win, I have just one brief but important request for readers. Can anyone recommend a cure for non-stop shedding of tears? I believe millions will also benefit as this special young lady has this magical effect on all of us.

Sobbing with joy,

I think that by the time Israel lost a nail-biter to the strong Dominican Republic team, we all realized the need to appreciate the efforts that Peter Kurtz and company invested over the last decade (Israel’s dejected US-born stars hope to inspire native heroes to fill their cleats,” August 5).

The search for players to join the team back in 2013 for the World Baseball Classic until a few months back to refresh, invigorate and develop a team to represent Israel and the Jewish people was a yeoman task.

The pride Jewish baseball fans had in having a team that kept on surprising pundits and defeating competitors who were heavily favored reminded us all of the sports adage that on any given day anyone can beat even the most heavily favored opponents.

Joc Pederson, Shawn Peterson, Brad Ausmus and Jason Marquis, from previous classics to Ian Kinsler, plus Olympian Heroes Danny Valencia, Blake Gallen and the “local” heroes like Shlomo Lipetz and Alon Leichman made us all proud!

We finished this round being a strike away from extra innings and another chance to win and possibly get a medal. Instead we end up fifth in the world with a lot of pride in Eric Holtz’s team!

To me and many others these games rank very high in the annals of Jewish Baseball accomplishments, ranking up there with Sandy Koufax not pitching on Yom Kippur and Hank Greenberg being a home run king and proud Jew.

Kol hakavod!

The most hypocritical aspect of the Tokyo Olympics is watching an athlete from China wearing a mask while standing on the podium to receive a gold medal.

The only reason he is wearing a mask is because it is his country that caused all the continuing death and sickness, caused the worldwide economic calamity, caused the Olympic stadiums to be empty of spectators and is causing the entire world population to still wear masks!

Once again Douglas Bloomfield (“Speaking truth to power,” August 5) assails Republicans and anyone who might be seen as a Trump supporter. As usual, his diatribe is replete with misinformation and insulting conclusory language. While his writing bespeaks a vendetta against Donald Trump bordering on obsession, he is unwilling to provide thoughtful, impartial commentary on more important US policy issues. 

In this week’s installment, Bloomfield contends that Republican Senator Tom Cotton is guilty of pandering because he criticized the recent Ben and Jerry’s decision as an attack on Israel’s integrity; accuses Trump of having a “penchant for antisemitic tropes” (he conveniently ignores the manifold antisemitic and anti-Israel statements by leading Democrat lawmakers Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib); and alleges that Republicans “care little about peace with the Arabs” (Has he not heard of the Abraham Accords?). 

We should expect that a weekly column titled “Washington Watch” would discuss such issues as soaring illegal immigration (including many with COVID) animated by President Biden’s policies and campaign rhetoric; alarming increases in violent crime across the country even as many on the Left call to defund the police; out of control spending accompanied by soaring inflation; and alarming attacks on civil liberties including freedoms of expression, religion, association and private property. 

Instead, Bloomfield demonstrates time and again that his primary goal is to excoriate Trump and anyone who voted for him for all manner of sins real or imagined. The horse has long since died, but Bloomfield continues to beat it mercilessly, driven by his most terrifying nightmare – that the steed may yet arise and gallop to victory in 2024. 

It does little good to respond to each element of Bloomfield’s incessant attacks. It is time to replace Bloomfield with someone who will produce objective in-depth discussion of vital issues of the day. 

Gershon Baskin’s empathy for the plight of the inhabitants of Gaza and his statement that “both sides are right and both sides are wrong” (“Summer in Gaza,” August 5) are opinions that I do not share.

There is no moral equivalence to the Palestinian denial of Jewish history and Israel’s right to exist. There is no moral equivalence to the Palestinian desire for a Jew-free Palestinian state “from the river to the sea” and Israel’s embrace of its minority Moslem and Christian citizens that comprise 20% of the electorate. There is no moral equivalence of Jews wanting to live in their indigenous biblical homeland to the claim of the Palestinians that Jews are colonialists and should go back to where they came from. (Jews are back to where we came from; back to Israel.)

There is no moral equivalence of the Palestinian rejection of Israel and their “pay to slay” policy to Israel’s policy of providing electricity, medical services and existential provisions to Palestinians in Gaza. There is no moral equivalence of indiscriminate rocket fire at Israel with the aim of killing and destroying as many Jews as possible with the Israeli response to those attacks.

Baskin has not expressed an iota of sympathy for the 850,000 Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews expelled from Arab countries, the majority of whom arrived dispossessed and penniless in Israel after 1948. He has not expressed any sympathy for the millions of Jews who suffered 2,000 years of blood libels, forced conversions, expulsions, discrimination, murder and finally a holocaust aimed at eradicating Jews throughout Europe. He does not express any sympathy for the tens of thousands of Jews who found themselves as refugees through no fault of their own after the Second World War. Some journeyed to Israel by sea and overcame the disgraceful British blockade. They did not come to air conditioned apartments that Baskin finds so intolerable; they came and fought a war of survival against Arab countries determined to wipe Israel off the map. Thousands were killed.

Baskin does not express any sympathy for the millions of Arabs living in failed Arab countries. They do not enjoy the human rights that Buskin is so concerned about for Palestinians. Neither do any of these human rights exist in any area controlled by either the PA or by Hamas in Gaza. Baskin seems obsessed with establishing yet another failed state in the Middle East. The human rights of Palestinian prisoners including those with blood on their hands is of great concern to Baskin; the multiple executions of members of the PA by Hamas and vice versa is of little concern. The conditions experienced by terrorists in Israeli jails is paramount. 

 All his sympathies and empathy are reserved for the “poor” Palestinians who have received more money per capita than any other refugees in history. In return they falsify history and promote hatred, suicide bombers and martyrdom as a way to a better life in heaven.

Week after week Baskin finds nothing but fault with Israel. He seems obsessed that Israel is not prepared to accept a Palestinian state that has as its main aim the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. All his sympathies lie with narrative of Palestinian suffering. He seems to believe that the Palestinians want to peacefully coexist with Israel. It’s always Israel’s fault that the Palestinian situation is what it is.

Baskin has fallen for the oldest trick in politics: blame someone else for the problems you cause yourselves. Israel fits the bill perfectly. Blame Israel for everything that goes wrong. 

Well in reality the chasm between the Shi’ites and Sunnis has nothing to do with Israel. The disastrous situation in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen is not because of Israel. More and more countries in the Middle East are now recognizing that Israel is the answer rather than the problem. Perhaps Baskin should reflect on what would happen to his air-conditioned home in Jerusalem if the Palestinians ever succeeded in a war against Israel. That will be a good wake up call to reality. 

In “Shut up and teach? Why labor unions like mine weigh in on Israel-Gaza” (JPost.com, August 5) Glenn Sacks disingenuously defends the indefensible United Teachers Los Angeles resolution condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza and calling to cut off all US assistance to the Jewish state. 

His was a panegyric to the labor glory days of yore, those days of “Workers of the World Unite.” He dismissed concerns at the union “alienating Jewish supporters,” who are an “influential minority” while the “Arab and Muslim community is modest in size and power.” Sounds like a noxious, familiar trope.

Why those enraged, engaged teachers? “Regardless of blame... the violence and destruction in Gaza.” How does he know, though, that “most of those killed and injured were poor working people in Gaza?” Did Hamas provide him their occupations, or ever reveal Iran as the eminence grise behind the fourth Gaza War? Do those teachers know, or care, about that? Why do they not even mention the more than 4,300 deadly rockets launched indiscriminately at Israel over 11 days, hoping to kill as many poor working people in Israelis as possible, while praying that Israeli responses would kill and maim Gazans. Expecting then, that Western “useful idiots,” like those teachers, as if on cue, would blame Israel for the carnage?

Sacks’s lengthy litany of all the causes UTLA has championed over the years, only demonstrates how politically suffused it is, and how it is that politics now so pervade their classrooms. How proud he is of the “massive strike rallies, in Grand Park” and the “powerful impression on negotiators inside!” It is such raw displays of political power and massive contributions to officials who then negotiate their contracts, that’s so threatening to bankrupt cities and states, but doing nothing at all to stop the rapid deterioration of K-12 American education.

So, yes, ‘”Shut up and teach”

Sweltering summer

Regarding “Greece battles wildfires in ‘nightmarish summer’” (August 8), I really feel for Greece. As a lifelong resident of southwestern B.C. (Canada), the unprecedented heat wave here in late June, described by meteorologists as more of a “stalling heat dome” left me feeling I could never again complain about the weather being too cold.

I know that, clearly, there has been discouragingly insufficient political courage and will to properly act upon the cause-and-effect of man-made global warming and climate change. Neo-liberals and conservatives are overly preoccupied with vociferously criticizing one another for their politics and beliefs thus diverting attention away from the planet’s greatest polluters, where it should and needs to be sharply focused. 

But there’s still some hope for spaceship Earth and therefore for humankind due to environmentally conscious and active young people, especially those who are approaching/reaching voting age. In contrast, the dinosaur electorate who have been voting into high office consecutive mass-pollution-promoting or complicit/complacent governments for decades are gradually dying and making way for voters who fully support a healthy Earth – thus populace.