Muslim leaders thus should discourage their faithful from migrating to the land of the Big Satan. They should approve of President Donald Trump’s ban.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORUpdated: JANUARY 30, 2017 21:48Letters(photo credit: REUTERS)
Trump’s banWith regard to “Refugees detained after Trump ban on Holocaust Remembrance Day” (January 29), Islamic leaders object to the American lifestyle and do not welcome Americans to live in Muslim lands, since they bring their infidel culture with them.Muslim leaders thus should discourage their faithful from migrating to the land of the Big Satan. They should approve of President Donald Trump’s ban.CHARLES OREN HerzliyaThe Jerusalem Post is acting like the American media vis a vis President Donald Trump – it distorts and misleads the public.The headline indicates that Trump signed an executive order limiting refugees in entering the US. Adding the words “on Holocaust Remembrance Day” was at best unnecessary, and at worst derogatory. Do your headline writers actually think that the president looked at the calendar, saw it was Holocaust Day and said, “Oh, I am going to ban the refugees today”? The Jewish organizations that object to the ban have an understandable point, given American Jewish history during World War II. But at the same time, they need to understand the difference between the two types of refugees: There were no terrorists among the Jews entering the US at that time.This latest directive is needed desperately.URI HIRSCH JerusalemI read with dismay that many prominent Jews and Jewish organizations find it offensive that President Donald Trump issued his ban during Holocaust Remembrance Day. In my opinion, one could not pick a more appropriate occasion.President Trump recognizes in a stark and morally centered way the threat posed by Islamic terrorism.
He has referred to suicide bombers with obvious emotion as “rats.” Indeed they are, and hooray for President Trump! Seeing as Jews are Enemy Number One of the people Trump disdains and wants to exclude, his action is one that protects Jews from possible harm. The appropriate reaction should be one of gratitude and relief that we finally have a president who takes Jewish, and American, security concerns seriously.DAVID KATCOFF Charleston, South CarolinaIsi Leibler’s sane “Pseudo-liberal Jews are causing unspeakable damage” (Candidly Speaking, January 29) serves as an antidote to the madness I’ve been hearing since US President Donald Trump’s executive order on refugees.However, the crux of the matter is not being addressed: The ban should be on ideological, not religious grounds.During the Cold War, communists could get into the US only through a waiver. Since Islam is not only a religion, but a political ideology, Trump is applying similar rules to Muslims, and we should view this as targeting the ideology.If there were a way to easily differentiate between what Ayaan Hirsi Ali calls the “Mecca Muslims” (i.e., “Muslims who are loyal to the core creed and worship devoutly, but are not inclined to practice violence”) and the “Medina Muslims” (who “see the forcible imposition of Shari’a as their religious duty”), there would be less of a problem.But this test is not easy to come up with, so it makes sense that until then, there should be a ban.MLADEN ANDRIJASEVIC BeershebaIsraelis are not permitted to enter 15 countries, including Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen. Can someone show me where all the demonstrations are concerning this discriminatory policy? When it’s Jews who are locked out, it seems that nobody, including the Left’s humanitarians, cares.KAREN PISK NetanyaMoral compassI strongly second Dov Lipman’s implicit observation that even little gifts carry potential for corruption (“Israel should not forget its moral compass,” Observations, January 27).I had occasion to observe this dynamic firsthand years ago when, as a contracting officer for the US Defense Department, a certain vendor responded to a purchase requisition for three screws by giving them to me gratis. This was and is perfectly legal, and it is not uncommon for vendors to supply items at no cost to the government in order to receive solicitations in future procurements.I followed the procedures, which included, inter alia, a letter to the vendor making clear that there could be no expectation of any quid pro quo. The vendor told me that if ever I found myself in the neighborhood, I was welcome to “stop by.”It turns out he had already bribed many procurement people, including my own supervisor.He was convicted and sentenced.Likewise for those he bribed – each had taken the bait and made that visit to his premises, where they were offered personal items and favors of even greater value than those given to the government.I moved on to bigger and better things (including aliya) with my reputation intact.The dynamic of bribery begins small and works its way up to larger things, because once the line of legality is been crossed, each person involved effectively owns the other through the threat of exposure and can dictate increasingly greater transgressions.Regardless of one’s political leanings, the fact that the Netanyahus are at the level of expensive cigars and champagne should be a matter of concern.KALMAN H. RYESKY Petah TikvaRethinking IranReporter Herb Keinon deftly highlights Israel’s renewed emphasis on Iran since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration (“PM puts Iran back on agenda,” January 22). Unfortunately, though, we witness the same, worn attack on the ayatollah regime, with not a word about Iran as an evil empire.Jerusalem and Washington should mount a major informational attack on the very legitimacy of the Iranian state entity itself, not just its regime. Most Arab countries would quietly applaud.Looking at Iran from the top down has a chance of working in lieu of military action. As the very existence of the Iranian empire appears threatened by continued ayatollah rule, there can be real hope that the military will act to free itself from under the Revolutionary Guard’s heavy boot. In so doing, it will also free the Iranian people.If nothing else, the national security councils of Israel and the US should engage full-court reviews of their failed Iran policies.AARON BRAUNSTEIN Jerusalem The writer is a retired US Foreign Service officer.Two-way BDS?Has the Israel Postal Company joined the BDS movement? In the middle of December, I ordered a simple package through eBay. The seller was great. He was willing to ship to Israel, and by December 24, the USPS tracking site showed that the package had arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport.Days went by, then weeks, and still nothing. I wrote to the postal company and asked what happened.I got two answers: The package had not arrived in Israel, and “we” are not responsible for what is on the USPS website.The other day, out of curiosity, I went to my local post office and, lo and behold, the package was there. I can’t even begin to imagine why I never received any notification (maybe because it was so busy denying that the package had ever arrived in the country).This story repeats itself hundreds of times every week in post offices all over Israel. Is it not bad enough that we have to deal with the BDS movement, where foreigners don’t want to buy from us? Now we have to give those who are willing to sell things to us a reason to refuse.RACHEL SCHECTER Rehovot
