By LETTERS TO THE EDITORUpdated: JUNE 12, 2016 21:47Letters(photo credit: REUTERS)TA terror attackIn reference to “Three killed in shooting attack at Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market” (June 9), how does South Africa’s leadership, which welcomed Hamas leaders to the country in October 2015, square off with Ismael Haniyeh calling the murderers of innocent civilians heroes.South African President Jacob Zuma exchanged gifts and signed a letter of intent pledging to build “lasting relationships” at a joint news conference with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in 2015.Now Hamas has intimated that more attacks will follow over the month-long Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Until governments treat terrorist organizations as terrorist organizations, and not embrace them as friends, these massacres will continue.Zuma and other leaders have to recognize their culpability for mass murder when they publicly and smilingly support internationally recognized terrorist organizations!DAVID E. KAPLANKfar SabaProof in the eating...With regard to “Independent kashrut authority vows to ‘find another loophole’” (June 9), the decision by the Supreme Court to disallow any kosher certification or claim of kashrut other than one provided by the corrupt, inefficient, scandal-ridden Chief Rabbinate causes unpardonable harm to the consumer. What’s more, it prevents that rara avis, the honest rabbi, from doing something important for the public.
Until there is a change – ideally as a result of the abolishment of the Chief Rabbinate altogether – I would suggest the following:• The rabbis of Hashgacha Pratit should have each participating restaurant place a framed poster in its front window. The poster should have with a picture of these rabbis actually dining at the establishment, and the words “We do something better than rubber-stamping a kosher certificate.We actually eat here. So can you.”Too often, the only place that inspectors from the Chief Rabbinate really inspect is the cash register.The food they endorse they wouldn’t touch for love or money. Well, for enough money, maybe, but certainly not for love.YOHANAN AV-YAIRJerusalem...but not the readingI was wondering why, in the only Jewish state in the world, the widest-circulation English-language newspaper in Israel has in recent weeks been publishing restaurant reviews only for non-kosher restaurants in its weekly Billboard supplement.This past month, there was more free time than normal, and it would have been nice to have had recommendations for kosher places.KAREN GOLDSMITHJerusalemThose promises...In reference to “Promises, promises” (Editorial, June 9), I wish that all US presidential candidates would stop insulting our intelligence by promising every four years to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In my opinion, they never will.What other country in the world today is not allowed to decide which is to be its capital city? Only Israel.Moving the embassy to Jerusalem is a political chip that will never be cashed in. It will, to our detriment, be played every four years.Please stop insulting us already.NORMAN DEROVANMa’aleh AdumimAs stated in your editorial, the promise has never been kept. Reason: The world community regards Israel’s possession of east Jerusalem as unlawful, and mistakenly conflates said possession with “west” Jerusalem. However, a rationale exists in which, when superimposed upon the present conundrum, supports the conclusion that Israel’s possession of all land west of the Jordan River is legal, in all respects – and therefore, Jerusalem, all of it, is the legal capital of the State of Israel.How so? Attorney Howard Grief, now deceased, wrote and published the defining work regarding the emergence of the Jewish state. He proved that the UN never had the authority to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. Article 80 required that the provisions of the Mandate for Palestine, guaranteeing Jewish settlement in all lands west of the Jordan River, as set forth at the San Remo Conference and later incorporated into international law in 1922, were irrevocable.Thus, the action taken by the UN in 1947 to partition the land was a violation of its own charter. It was illegal and must now be rectified.In sum, the creation of a “Palestinian” state upon Jewish land is legally unsupportable. And Jerusalem is the legal capital of the State of Israel.ARTHUR SAFIRWarminster, PennsylvaniaOne hundred and twenty years ago, Theodor Herzl, the visionary of our state, wrote the following in his diary: “We shall exterritorialize Jerusalem, so that it will belong to nobody and yet everybody; and with it the holy places, which will become the joint possession of all believers – a great condominium of culture and morality (Vienna, 7 May 1896).”Might it be worth trying, even at this belated stage?ZEEV RAPHAELHaifa... and cartoonsHow long will you keep publishing the obsessive campaign of your house caricaturist against Donald Trump? Mr. Trump is the presumptive Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States, and he has a good chance of being elected. Is it wise to keep attacking him on the pages of the leading English-language newspaper of Israel, which widely read in America? Are there no other subjects deserving the attention of the caricaturist? If he cannot find other subjects, I’m willing to suggest a whole lot of interesting possibilities that are not related to American politics.LEON ZELDISHerzliyaBusy lawmakers When, exactly, do our members of Knesset actually have time to do anything for the good of the Israeli people? All you hear in the news is that they are fighting with each other, threatening to quit, threatening to bring down the government or are under criminal investigation.So now that it is almost summer, is it time for them to vote themselves a longer vacation, and perhaps a raise?REBECCA RAABMa’aleh AdumimMissing columnists I am writing to protest the fact that Martin Sherman’s Into the Fray columns are missing from The Jerusalem Post. Judging by the many online talkbacks bewailing the absence, it seems clear that Sherman is a favorite columnist of many readers, including myself.Dr. Sherman, a man of brilliance, holds several university degrees. He expresses himself with clarity and logic. I believe that his (right-wing) views reflect the way of thinking of many Israelis, and while such views might not be “politically correct,” they are entirely defensible.His work is challenging of consensus and therefore particularly valuable.In general terms, the paper these days (especially Friday’s issues) appear to be moving leftwards, which is a great shame since one relies on the Post – the only wide-circulation English-language paper in Israel – to be fair and impartial.RHONA YEMINIGivatayimI have long thought that Pinchas Landau’s Friday business section column was one of the best in The Jerusalem Post. Please bring him back.MERVYN DOOBOVJerusalemFirst Sarah Honig disappeared from four Friday Observations section.Now Martin Sherman is gone.Who will be next? Melanie Phillips? David M. Weinberg? Caroline B. Glick? I’m sure there are many readers like myself who sorely miss Sarah Honig and hope that both she and Martin Sherman will soon grace your pages again.TAMAR GINATYehudThe editor in chief responds: Melanie Phillips, David M. Weinberg and Caroline B. Glick will continue to appear in The Jerusalem Post.
