Stone throwers are potential murderers
Israeli PM Netanyahu is considering harsher rules of engagement with stone throwers plaguing Jewish motorists around Israel lately; this amid a recent spate of grave desecrations on the Mount of Olives.
Stone throwers and grave desecrators have the same intention, but stone throwers have more courage. People who attack graves are too afraid to show their faces while committing the act.
Israel has been forced by “world opinion” since 1948 to constantly negotiate with criminals who want Jews to disappear. The world seemingly doesn’t acknowledge that every stone thrower is a potential (sometimes actual) murderer, and those who would destroy the memory of our dead are no better.
Deterrence is preferable to retribution. Unfortunately, deterrence can be established only when the perpetrators comprehend a credible, unacceptable threat. Most Israelis understand that. Some American Jews seem to struggle with the concept.
Desmond Tuck | San Mateo
Israel must stay strong to stay alive
Chuck Sher says in his op-ed that Israel should bend over backwards and make massive concessions to the Palestinians in order to reach an accord with them (“It’s time to reclaim our Jewish moral heritage,” Aug. 14). But Israel has been doing precisely that for decades with no positive results. They take our concessions, but their hostility is undiminished, because from the Arab perspective, this is not a mere conflict over land but a religious and ideological struggle that can only end when Israel has been completely wiped off the map.
Sher states that Judaism (at least the version he was raised on) requires Jews to always stand up for the underdog, which in this case is the Palestinians. This is nonsense. The Torah differentiates between good and evil, not between strong and weak. The strong are not always evil, and the weak are not always good. The “weak” Palestinians have created a literal culture of death in which they groom their children for suicide martyrdom, treat murderers of Jews as role models to be emulated, and consistently incite their people to hatred and violence. Trying to negotiate peace with them is an exercise in futility.
It’s time for Jews to get over their illusions and understand that if they want to live in the Promised Land, they’ll have to fight for that right, and strength and unyieldingness will produce much better results than weakness and appeasement.
Martin Wasserman | Palo Alto
A seat for all on the holidays
Thanks for your article about free and low-cost High Holiday services. However, I would hope that any synagogue would help people who couldn’t afford the tickets. I recall that when I was a child, my mother was often ill and had very little money. Nevertheless, if she was well enough to attend, seats were found for us.
Celia Menczel | Walnut Creek
The truth about Poland after the war
The advertisement titled “High Holidays in Poland” by Taube Philanthropies (Sept. 18, back-inside page) contains significant inaccuracies in the second paragraph. In the interest of historical accuracy, I’d like to point out facts about Jewish life in Poland during the post-World War II period.
In 1945, I was a 17-year-old Holocaust survivor and joined the newly assembled Jewish community in the city of Lodz. I wanted to visit my hometown, Pultusk, about 100 miles away, to look for possible family survivors. Jews who had arrived in Lodz earlier warned me, “Do not go to Pultusk, they will kill you!” I did not go.
For decades after WWII, Jews were not welcome or safe in Poland. The Kielce Pogrom of July 4, 1946 is the most infamous, violent act against Jews. That year, 327 Jews were killed throughout Poland; it is all well-documented.
An estimated 100,000 Jewish survivors gathered in Poland in 1945. In 1980 the number had dwindled to 5,000, a 95 percent drop. The figures clearly reflect the virulent anti-Jewish conditions in Poland during that time. Jews left Poland for safer areas and other countries.
It is very important that the second paragraph of the Taube advertisement be corrected to reflect the facts before the remaining eyewitnesses die out. This is not to diminish all the good work Taube Philanthropies is doing, nor is it meant to reject the fact that Poland is now one of the safest countries for Jews in Europe.
Wilfred “Bill” Kay | San Rafael
The writing is on the wall
Can you trust the fox to watch the chicken coop, now that Iran will monitor its nuclear production? The nuclear agreement with Iran increases the risk of war and threatens our national security. Most constraints on Tehran lapse after 15 years, then Iran is free to produce uranium on an industrial scale.
Loopholes in the deal would lead to losing important leverage, such as the ability to account for Iran’s fast nuclear development. It gives Iran an immediate infusion of up to $150 billion, legalizes access to conventional weapons in five years, legalizes access to ballistic missiles in eight years and gives Iran a nuclear breakout time of virtually zero in 10 to 15 years.
The writing is on the wall, warning the entire world.
Shoshana Eliahu | Lafayette
Terrible policy decision
Your editorial “With debate over, focus turns to implementation” (Sept. 18) fails to focus on the enormity of the policy change heralded by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the requirement that elected officials be held accountable for their actions. Of course, in the case of the Senate it was inaction on the Iran deal, i.e. the majority of Senate Democrats blocking a vote on the issue, that was particularly egregious.
As explained by Sen. Charles Schumer, one of the courageous Democratic dissidents, “when it comes to the nuclear aspects of the agreement within 10 years, we might be slightly better off with it. However, when it comes to the nuclear aspects after 10 years and the non-nuclear aspects, we would be better off without it.”
Given that so many of the provisions expire in 10 to 15 years, the agreement should logically provide some added measure of security in these later years. Yet it does just the opposite. With a national election next year, the goal must be to elect leaders who can somehow respond to the added threats posed by this terrible policy decision.
Steve Astrachan | Pleasant Hill
You can’t be pro-Israel and favor Iran pact
Little of what is supposed to be beneficial in the Iran nuclear pact is really going to happen, unless you believe that Iran will carry out all of the terms. There are no tight inspections or “snap back” sanctions built into the pact. Conversely, that Iran will receive many billions of dollars useful for their terrorism and will acquire nuclear weapons within a decade is assured.
For Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei, America is the “great Satan.” Iran intends to destroy America. The destruction of Israel, the “small Satan” and Israel’s Jews is his most important near-term objective.
Anyone who claims to be pro-Israel yet supports this pact is either ignorant, foolish or dishonest.
Arthur Cohn | Portola Valley
A simple solution for aching backs
Re: “My aching back: What’s a person to do?” (Aug. 7), I have had three lumbar back operations starting with a ruptured disc at age 32. Periodically I would throw out my back (medically defined as a facet syndrome). I sought a second opinion from an orthopedist regarding a recommendation for an involved spinal fusion procedure. The orthopedist said the only thing that has been proven to prevent these painful facet syndromes is using a stationary bicycle for at least 20 minutes at least two to three times a week.
Since doing this (at the SFJCC, of course), I have had no episodes of “throwing the back out.” I am writing this in the hopes it will save others from this all too common distressful situation.
David Fisher, M.D. | San Francisco