Bagels worth their salt

I was glad to see the column on the new bagel stores in the Bay Area (“From the bagel front: Two new outfits prepare to strut their stuff,” July 8).

   However, I take issue with Andy Altman-Ohr’s statement that existing bagels stores are disappointing. Has he tried the bagels at Izzy’s in Palo Alto? What about those at the House of Bagels (San Francisco and Palo Alto)? Both Izzy’s and House of Bagels have authentic, New York–style bagels and both stores carry wonderful challot!

Dele Gershater   Palo Alto

True victory was halting the flotilla

Reading Marcy Oster’s report (“Flotilla sequel goes kerplunk thanks to Greek authorities,” July 8), one may believe he is holding the notorious U.K. Guardian newspaper rather than j.

   The convoluted reasoning in attempting to demonstrate the flotilla’s success and put down the Israeli government is preposterous.

   If these activists were seeking publicity, as the article suggests, they could have stood in every major city of the world, shed their clothing and demonstrate in their pajamas to their hearts delight. Not so. They went through the trouble of reaching Greece, spending time and money, clearly with the purpose to break Israel’s blockade, the will of the Israeli people, and to isolate Israel’s government. Similarly, the goal of the flytilla’s organizers was to disrupt Ben Gurion Airport activities and conduct large protests in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

   Thanks to the Israeli government’s political maneuverings, these attempts ended up as minor nuisances, and many Western countries cooperated with the government of Israel in thwarting these provocateurs’ effort at sea and air.

   J.’s readers should reject this newfangled goal of lower expectations of the failed activists, and rather than trump up the delusion of these provocateurs, j. should praise the Israel government’s political effort in preventing another Mavi Marmara.

Samuel Liron  Foster City

Protests land with thuds

With their beloved flotilla having an “extended stay” in Greece and being in danger of  having to call it quits, the radical left of the Bay Area had a pro-flotilla demonstration July 5 in front of one of their favorite hangout spots in San Francisco, the Israeli Consulate office.

   Among this rogue gallery of Israel bashers was Code Pink, even though their fearless leader, Medea Benjamin, was stuck in Greece. But Richard Becker from A.N.S.W.E.R.  and Kate Raphael from Q.U.I.T (Queers Undermining Israeli “Terror”) were both present.

   However, they along with the sparse crowd of 20 or so pro-flotilla demonstrators didn’t look too happy. Indeed they were a sad lot in more ways than one that day.

   It seems that their demonstration was as much of a flop as the flotilla itself. I’m also delighted to see that the “flytilla” was equally a failure.

   The radical left will try to claim their efforts were not in vain due to the media attention they received. But ask the average person out there if they know about this and you will most likely get a shoulder shrug.

   Score one for the good guys!

Sol Rosenberg  Oakland