Hamas destroys hope for peace
For all of us who value the sanctity of human life, there was great hope that Hamas would follow Israel’s lead and accept the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, putting an end to rocket fire in both directions. Sadly, Hamas showed its true colors, rejecting the agreement and vowing to continue this conflict. Since the time that the agreement was to go into effect, more than 50 rockets were showered into Israel, bringing the total to well over 900.
Even more appalling is that Hamas houses its rocket launchers inside of mosques, schools and homes, putting its own people at risk, and has called on its people to ignore Israel’s warnings for civilians to move out of harm’s way.
Israel has the right to defend itself against attacks aimed at its civilians, and may be forced to escalate its response in light of Hamas’ decision to reject a cease-fire. As a proud Jew and American citizen, I stand by Israel and the difficult actions that she may be forced to take.
Roxanne Cohen | San Carlos
Stop giving money to ‘terror conglomerate’
President Obama has offered to broker a peace between Israel and Hamas. Now the sacred Covenant of Hamas (like al-Qaida, labeled by our own State Department as a terrorist organization) calls for the murder not just of Israel’s Jews, but of Jews everywhere. And as Hamas continues to rain down its Iranian and Syrian rockets on Israel’s Jews, perhaps Mr. Obama could consider this suggestion: How about stop sending $500 million of American taxpayer money to the Hamas-Palestinian Authority terror conglomerate regime?
Scott Abramson | San Mateo
Settlements cost lives
Recent tragic events in Israel and “territories” would not be happening if the right-wing settlers did not insist on building houses on land not within Israel’s currently recognized borders, and the government did not support them by building apartments, roads and outposts.
As we have seen, it costs lives — not only teens or families, but soldiers posted to defend them. The only possible explanation is that the policy is to grab more land before making peace. Continuation of this cynical policy will only prevent peace from ever being achieved.
Allan Altman | Larkspur
Achieve peace by winning war
The July 11 J. reveals some different opinions in the Jewish community. Sam Zuckerman and Carol Friedman praised J Street, want peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and ignored what Hamas has done to make peace impossible. The PLO and Hamas formed a unity government, Hamas kidnapped and murdered three Israeli civilian young men, Hamas escalated firing rockets into Israel. Those rockets are meant to kill, injure and terrorize Jews and also the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Thus, Hamas has started a war with Israel, uses human shields at its terrorist targets, and then uses resultant casualties of their people as propaganda against Israel. The J. editorial is correct: “Pray for swift victory in war on Hamas.” David Suissa is correct: “When rockets are falling, ‘peace’ conferences are folly.” The majority realizes that the priority is to stop Hamas from firing rockets into Israel, and only winning the war could lead to a later peace.
Norman Licht | San Carlos
Trauma of Israeli kids
You may post this link to YouTube so readers will comprehend the trauma Israeli kids are experiencing under the constant barrage of rockets, and maybe open their eyes and hearts to Israel constant fear and survival struggle for the last 66 years and going ahead: www.tinyurl.com/israeli-children-boom.
The kids in Israel will appreciate your cooperation.
Sam Liron | Foster City
Why is Jewish Voice for Peace in Resource?
I received my 2014 Resource: A Guide to Jewish Life in the Bay Area today. I am disgusted by the guide’s inclusion of Jewish Voice for Peace!
J. soundly denounced the Presbyterian vote to divest from companies helping to safeguard Israel. According to a New York Times article by Laurie Goodstein (June 20): “Of more influence was the presence at the church’s convention all week of Jewish activists, many of them young, in black T-shirts with the slogan ‘Another Jew Supporting Divestment.’ Many of them were with Jewish Voice for Peace, a small but growing organization that promotes divestment and works with Palestinian and Christian groups on the left.
“Right before the vote, some Presbyterian commissioners sought out Rabbi Alissa Wise, a co-director of organizing for Jewish Voice for Peace. She told them that divestment can serve a constructive purpose. ‘To me, this helps Palestinians build their power,’ she said, ‘so that Israel is convinced, not by force, but by global consensus that something has to change.’” Why is JVP in Resource?
Sheree Roth | Palo Alto
It’s not just Hamas
The editorial in J. (July 11), “Pray for swift victory in war on Hamas,” asserts that once Hamas is destroyed, “a major obstacle to peace” will be eliminated. What the writer fails to mention are the major obstacles to peace on the Israeli side: The continuous building of illegal settlements on densely populated Palestinian territory, and right-wing extremist factions of the current Israeli government who are clearly against real peace with compromises on both sides. Another point of interest is that if, as the article states, Israel does succeed in crushing and eliminating “Hamas once and for all,” Netanyahu is well aware of the high probability that a more radical group such as the vicious Islamic Jihad will step in to take its place. In order to avoid such a thing from happening, his aim is not to completely knock Hamas out of power but to weaken it considerably at any price, including a ground war whereby civilian casualties will be high.
Sharone Negev | San Francisco
Partial agreement with column
I can partially agree with Sue Fishkoff’s column “Refusing to give up on Israel”(July 11), but I think she shifted the accent from the fact of Hamas targeting Israeli civilians to talking about Sayed Kashua, an Arab Israeli intellectual. Also, rephrasing his statement I can say about an Israeli Jew: “Remember that for them you will always, but always, be a Jew.” The same about any Jew around the world.
Eugene Vosko | Brisbane
Jews ‘not a race but a people’
Regarding Dawn Kepler’s June 29 column, “I want all streams of Judaism to see my kids as Jewish,” I struggle with this issue as well. My Jewishness derives from patrilineal descent. It’s complicated by the fact that my father’s ancestors were forcibly converted to Catholicism during the Inquisition. Given my history, I was hurt at times when people would question whether or not I was a Jew. Finally, a wise rabbi told me that Jewish identity is a question of the heart and soul. She explained that Jewishness is not a race, but a people.
I like what the Jewish Virtual Library states: “The Reform movement also notes that in the Bible the line always followed the father, including the cases of Joseph and Moses, who married into non-Israelite priestly families.”
I will never be considered Jewish by some — despite my formal conversion, beit din and mikvah — because my mother was not a Jew. However, my Jewishness is an issue between Adonai and me. Will I continue to welcome Shabbat on Friday evenings? Yes. Will my daughter attend Hebrew school and become a bat mitzvah? Yes.
Francisco Caravayo | San Francisco