By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Thanks, NikkiRegarding “Middle East divided on Nikki Haley’s legacy” (October 10), US Ambassador to the UN leaves a legacy she can be truly proud of in regard to the actions she took during her two-year tenure.She shook up an institution that was moribund in its policies and especially in its blatant antagonism to Israel involving any issue, while being blind to the real violations being perpetrated by despotic regimes throughout the world.The new sheriff came to town and is riding out knowing that she is leaving this arena with her voice of reason echoing through its halls.We owe her debt of gratitude. She was a true and major friend to Israel who will be long remembered for ruffling a lot of feathers, reminding many erring nations that the truth hurts.STEPHEN VISHNICKTel AvivSlander Israel and study here?
Regarding “Erdan to jailed US student: Recant BDS support to enter Israel” (October 10), major kudos to Strategic Affairs Minister Erdan for the detainment of Lara Alqasam, self-proclaimed former (or not) supporter of the BDS movement, who now wants to study at the Hebrew University. However, Minister Erdan will let her into the country only if she publicly recants her support for BDS.Wrong move. These misguided activists, in an effort to seek some drama and purpose in their lives, are waging a form of warfare – economic and psychological – no less dangerous and damaging to Israel than militant terrorism. Would we let a self-proclaimed Hamas terrorist study at the Hebrew University if he/she recants his/her former murderous activities? I hope not!Even worse, some American Jewish leaders support Alqasam because they are against racial profiling. What does this have to do with racial profiling? How misguided can these so-called Jewish leaders be? This emphasizes the fertile ground on which Alqasam and others can plant their poison.My take: Alqasam should be allowed to enter Israel when the war with the Arab world is over.YIGAL HOROWITZBeershebaIt takes a villageRegarding “IDF continues manhunt for Barkan terrorist” (October 9), we’ve heard “it takes a village to raise a child” as a plea to promote good civics from an early age. Some Arab Palestinians read this differently, as do the media outlets who reported this week’s horror as “workplace violence.”On Sunday, Ashraf Walid Suleiman Na’alwa murdered two co-workers in an industrial park in Israel. He shot one, a young mother of a 1.5 year old baby, after ordering another Arab co-worker to tie her up. He then shot dead another male co-worker and wounded one more. The fact that the killer is still on the run probably means that others are hiding him.Na’alwa, a 23-year-old accountant employed in a workplace intended to promote Arab-Jewish co-existence, doesn’t fit the usual Arab terrorist profile. This industrial project is based on the idea that treating people with decency and providing them the opportunity to earn a living is a disincentive for terrorism.This notion works in many cases, but can still be defeated by the alternative educational philosophy that the only good Jew is a dead one, which is taught in the “moderate” Arab Palestinian educational system from an early age. Hamas leaders and many others in the “moderate” Arab community celebrated these murders, some by handing out candy.If it took a village to raise Na’alwa, the village needs to change – and any journalist who describes this brutality as “workplace violence” needs help.DESMOND TUCKSan Mateo, CA“An embarrassment and a disgrace”Regarding “Slain Duvdevan soldier’s family boycotts IDF court for refusing death penalty for terrorist” (October 9), like every other terrorist, the Arab terrorist who killed St.-Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky during an IDF operation will not get the death sentence. It seems that in this country where we are faced with death and destruction on a daily basis, such evil is not enough to warrant a verdict of true justice. Instead, what we get is more grandstanding from the prime minister: “Israel will continue to bring to justice anyone who attacks or tries to attack Israeli civilians or IDF soldiers.”I find this type of rhetoric offensive and condescending, especially when we see how the prime minister has refused to destroy Hamas – even ending Operation Protective Edge war with it while leaving behind the bodies of two of our soldiers. He has allowed our enemies almost unlimited integration into our society, made concessions that have enabled the continuation of the deaths of our soldiers and citizens, as well as tolerated the burning of crops, animals and land.The Lubarsky family said that the court’s decision to not consider the death penalty was “an embarrassment and a disgrace” and noted that in private meetings with PM Netanyahu, the IDF Military Advocate General and other top defense officials they were told no complete ban is in place against the death penalty, which makes it all the more disgraceful and hurtful to the family that, as stated in the article, “To date, Netanyahu has publicly sided with the legal establishment’s blanket opposition to the death penalty.”This, together with his other actions/non actions mentioned above, makes the prime minister guilty of inaction that harms his own people and favors our enemies.EDITH OGNALLNetanyaI deeply emphasize with the distraught family of slain St.-Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky, the latest innocent Israeli murdered by terrorists.A heinous crime was perpetrated by Palestinian Islam Yusuf Hamid and celebrated by the PA, whose “pay for slay” policy incentivizes and rewards their people. This culpability deserves the severest penalty, which leads me to question the reasoning and illogical motivation that compels our government to withhold the death sentence.The odds are that this prisoner will be freed in a “quid pro quo” political framework increasing the likelihood of future violent attacks on JewsThis stark reality is one that I and most probably a majority of my compatriots find most difficult to endure and will increasingly endeavor to reform.GISH TRUMAN ROBBINSPardesiya
