January 6: Dangerous prisoners

With regard to “US senators press Afghan president over prisoner release," I don’t believe it!

By JERUSALEM POST READERS
Letters 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Letters 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Dangerous prisoners
Sir, – With regard to “US senators press Afghan president over prisoner release” (January 3), I don’t believe it! A US delegation has warned Kabul of “irreparable damage” to relations with Washington if it goes ahead and frees prisoners who are considered a threat to security. It would be almost laughable if it wasn’t so unbelievable.
US President Barack Obama is worried about America’s security but has no problem putting Israel in more danger by forcing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to do something that Netanyahu thinks is wrong. Maybe one of those senators who went to Kabul, John McCain, would like to explain the difference.
JUDY GOLDIN Kiryat Ono
Sir, – I fail to understand why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is so outraged at the defiant attitude of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Holocaust denier, when he embraces the perpetrators of terrorism on their welcome home.
These quasi-heroes include convicted murderers of civilians, including children.
I am sure that Netanyahu is aware of the BBC report on the Islamic terrorists held in British jails, who refuse to be rehabilitated.
They leave prison and return to society with the same – if not more intensely focused – extremist beliefs that put them behind bars in the first place.
Our message to US Secretary of State John Kerry, who claims that peace is not a mission impossible, must be about an “omission impossible,” that is, that Israel, if it is to take part in a peace process, should allow no further releases of convicted Palestinian murderers! Further releases would only worsen the prospects for everlasting peace, with Israel (God forbid) ending up in pieces.
LEONARD BOOK Ashkelon

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Sir, – Recently, my wife returned from a visit to Israel, where our son and his family live.
She brought a copy of The Jerusalem Post. I was rather astonished to find letters regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Copies of these letters should be sent to each member of the cabinet for them to realize their mistake! The ministers should change their tactics for dealing with rogue elements among the Palestinians.
E. ELIASLondon
Not exactly
Sir, – I admire Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and agree with most of what he says and thinks.
However, because he is someone who built up companies from scratch and sold them for millions, I am shocked and surprised that he claims consumers can save NIS 3 by purchasing 30 items in January as compared to December (“Farewell to the agora and the phenomenon of prices that can’t be paid,” January 1).
In the best case, the saving is NIS 2.70 NIS, or 9 agorot per item. In the worst case, the buyer might pay an extra NIS 1.50 if all the previous prices ended in 5 agorot and were rounded upward! SHRAGA SIMON Karnei Shomron Small problem Sir, – According to Gershon Baskin, the solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is just a matter of agreeing to terms that the US will be proposing through US Secretary of State John Kerry, terms Baskin feels are fair (“Welcome back, Mr. Secretary,” Encountering Peace, January 1).
Baskin says the Palestinians will agree to joint patrols with Israelis in the Jordan Valley. Small problem! The Palestinians have already pledged that not a single Jew will be present anywhere on Palestinian soil. I guess Baskin knows better.
The Palestinians will control who enters and leaves their borders.
They have some very nice friends just waiting to get a closer shot at killing Jews once Israel gives up security and border inspections.
Where is it ever heard in the world today that a sovereign nation should share its capital with others who have had no history or interest in Jerusalem being an Arab capital. It was only after the Jewish nation regained its ancient capital that the Arabs become interested. I could go on and on.
The bottom line here is that with all the good intentions of Kerry and those willing to push for Israeli suicidal concessions, it’s not their survival that’s in jeopardy.
They are not being threatened on a daily basis with calls for their country’s destruction.
It is time to stop negotiating Israel’s future as if it’s part of a business transaction. There is no margin for error and no second chances.
JONATHAN SURASKY Ra’anana
What progress?Sir, – It is extremely easy to agree with every statement made by Carolyn B. Glick in her well penned piece “Empowering Palestinians who reject Israel’s right to exist” (Our World, December 31).
In Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s letter ahead of the vote on resuming “peace” talks with the Palestinians, he asserted that the purpose was to determine “if it is possible to reach an agreement with the Palestinians....”
He also agreed to release 104 Palestinians who had committed barbarous crimes against children and women “in accordance with the circumstances of the their progress.”
Pray, what progress has been evident regarding the core issues? More than this, Netanyahu referred to the terrorists as “depraved people” and acknowledged the injustice in releasing those guilty of heinous crimes.
That Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refers to these unsavory criminals as heroes speaks volumes.
In simplicity, it can be said that the very word “peace” has been grossly distorted. Clearly, the so-called Palestinians are pursuing a process of gradual land grabbing where any state that might emerge will consist of a population actively engaged in hostile activities against Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu, we have not built a “glorious country,” but one that is committed to living with injustice. Stop-gaps do not represent the defeat of terrorism.
And Mr. Kerry, please note that your own country enjoys peace because the US defeated Germany and Japan.
ALEX ROSE Ashkelon Fear of God
Sir, – The Machiavellian statement that “the ends justify the means” is a desecration of God’s name when used to justify immoral and anti-religious behavior.
The recent elections in Beit Shemesh are just one example.
In “Court decision over election in Beit Shemesh sparks contention among lawmakers” (December 27), haredi members of Knesset are quoted as saying that the court decision to hold new voting in the city was the result of a media campaign against haredim based on insufficient evidence and minimal infractions of voting.
There is probably some fraud in every election, but even those haredi MKs who admit that there might have been some cheating in Beit Shemesh choose not to relate to it at all as a transgression.
Not one word has been said about such cheating being a desecration of God’s name.
Regrettably, too many haredim relate to Klal Yisrael, the Jewish people, as being of no consequence, and justify their actions on the basis that all is permitted in a so-called secular state. It is no wonder that most Israelis have been turned off by haredi extremism.
The meaning behind the term “haredi” is trembling before God or being God-fearing, yet the behavior of too many haredim is often far from being God-fearing.
I wonder if they ever ask themselves whether God approves of their actions. If they don’t, they are not haredi.
RON BELZER Petah Tikva Wasted space
Sir, – Why is it that we, the daily readers of The Jerusalem Post here in Israel, are subjected almost daily to large ads for your annual conference in New York? How many of us would fly there to attend? Perhaps this space would serve your readers better if it contained pieces of interest.
KURT SIMON Jerusalem