‘Corrupt and insane’

Israel is transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to support Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah “government” after Hamas seized control of Gaza as Israel’s reward for its withdrawal there.

The June 24 New York Times quotes a Fatah legislator as saying Abbas “has no clear plan” for creating order within Fatah or for confronting Hamas. “We’ll only be able to command the respect of the people if we succeed in getting rid of the armed thugs,” said the legislator, a former Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades chief.

Times reporter Isabel Kershner observes, “There seems little immediate chance of a Hamas rout in the West Bank like there was in Gaza, but that is at least partly because, unlike Gaza, the West Bank remains under Israeli military occupation. Most of the prominent Hamas legislators and politicians from the West Bank are in Israeli jails, and the rest are lying low.”

The Israeli government is criminally corrupt and dangerously insane for aiding the Palestinian regime. Israel will reap the whirlwind from Gaza and the “West Bank,” as well as from Lebanon, for 40 years of failure to expand its borders to fulfill its only valid territorial mandate, which comes directly from God in his Torah.

Yisroel Pensack | San Francisco

Unwise reaction

The knee-jerk reaction of President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert to back President Abbas is not wise. Hamas is certainly an Iranian-backed threat to humanity — just look at the crimes they recently committed, such as throwing handcuffed prisoners off of rooftops.

On the other hand, the incredibly corrupt Fatah thugs don’t care much for the Palestinian people other than to use them to attract foreign donations that end up in personal Swiss accounts. Their mentor was Yasser Arafat, who was more interested in funneling money from Western taxpayer donations into his bank accounts than create a lasting peace for his so-called people. Arafat’s wife and daughter enjoy the fruits of his labor in Paris today.

Many Fatah leaders have now lost their palatial abodes in Gaza, and are looking at the West to fund their new digs in the West Bank. Americans should not be paying for this.

Olmert, like a predecessor who is now minister of defense, vacated occupied land in a hurry to only have the vacuum filled by Iranian pawns. It’s time he stepped aside to let Israelis find a strong leader who will not let terrorists level their towns, Sderot being a recent example.

Howard Roth | South San Francisco

‘Make it kosher’

Regarding this from the June 15 j., “The JCC is extensively polling its membership as to what sort of restaurant they’d like to see in the site,” when the JCCSF was being built several years ago someone in executive management asked me if I thought the on-site restaurant needed to be kosher. My response then, as it is now, was “why is this even a question?”

If you have a non-kosher restaurant in what is alleged to be a community center for the Jews of San Francisco, you are actively excluding a large number of Jews from being able to socialize there over a meal.

I would love to be able to tell my friends, when making dinner dates, “let’s meet at the JCCSF.” Instead, I tell them to meet me at Sabra, at Shangri-La, at vegetarian restaurants, etc.

It’s not really a Jewish Community Center if a significant number of Jews cannot eat there. So, I ask again, “why is this even a question?”

I don’t care what type of restaurant it is — deli, Chinese, Mexican, whatever — just make it kosher.

Kenny Altman | San Francisco

Support affirmed

I want to thank you for Stacey Palevsky’s April 27 coverage of how our local Jewish community is providing outreach and services to families who have children with special needs. Doing this important work requires substantial resources, and the Kohn Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund needs to be recognized for its long-standing support of the special education programs offered by the Bureau of Jewish Education.

Over the years we have also received funding from other foundations, including the Jewish Community Foundation and Federation of the Greater East Bay, but the Kohn Fund has been our primary support since 1991.

We are proud of all our accomplishments for the special population we serve, and hope to expand our offerings in the future. We especially look forward to our upcoming weekend at Camp Newman Aug. 24-26.

Flora Kupferman | San Francisco
special education consultant, BJE