‘Tensions’? How about ‘bloodbath’?
The ending of the Oct. 9 editorial, “Reduce tensions now or risk a new intifada,” is curious at best: “Why the nonchalant global reaction to this spate of attacks on innocent Israeli civilians? It’s as if the world feels that Israelis, especially residents in West Bank settlements, have it coming.”
That is exactly how the world feels.
It is curious that the editorial then offers this thought: “By all means, let the world debate the settlement issue.” This seems, at best, delusional. There is no “world debate” over what should be referred to, as the United Nations did at the time of partition, Judea and Samaria. There is a foregone conclusion by the world that this area is not disputed, and that murdering young parents before the eyes of their children is not intolerable if those young parents are Jews in the “wrong” place.
The editorial concludes, “We urge all parties to continue doing their utmost to reduce tensions.” “Tensions”? Is that an appropriate way to describe a bloodbath of random murder by Palestinians? In what way are Israelis responsible for the current “tensions,” other than by daring to live in their ancient homeland and endlessly giving their maniacal tormentors one more chance to morph into reasonable people?
Julia Lutch | Davis
Fight for Israel at Berkeley meeting
Anti-Israel activists tried and failed to push a divestment-from-Israel resolution through the Berkeley Human Welfare and Community Action Commission during the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe.
Only three commissioners voted for the ugly, biased and one-sided resolution on Sept. 16, and the majority sent it to a subcommittee to be reworked.
Many people in the Berkeley Jewish community felt blindsided and betrayed by the timing and the content of the resolution. We now have a second chance to have our voices heard. There will be a new vote on Oct. 21. Anti-Israel groups are sending out email blasts in an attempt to pack the halls and silence our voices. We need to show our grassroots support for Israel. This is our time to mobilize.
How you can help: Email the Berkeley Human Welfare Commission secretary [email protected] and cc the commission’s general email address at [email protected]. Even a simple email that says “Vote no on divestment” will help.
The new vote will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St., Berkeley. Our community needs to come out in force in opposition to this resolution.
Faith Meltzer | El Cerrito
Many more resources for sarcoma patients
Your Sept. 25 article on the Sarcoma-Oma Foundation had several errors (“New sarcoma cancer foundation named for Jewish ‘Oma’ ”). It said “there were no major foundations or comprehensive online resources” for people with sarcoma when Linda Wiener was diagnosed in 2013. The two largest national nonprofits are the Sarcoma Alliance, founded in 1999 in Marin County by a Jewish R.N. named Suzanne Leider, and its sister organization, the Sarcoma Foundation of America, founded the next year in Maryland. The U.S. has at least 40 other sarcoma nonprofits, not to mention major ones in other English-speaking countries.
The National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the American Association for Cancer Research and the Sarcoma Alliance for Research Through Collaboration have comprehensive sarcoma information geared to patients. Other nonprofits offer peer-to-peer support.
The article referred to an initiative that went on hiatus. In fact, the founders of the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative have retired, but they still maintain a comprehensive website.
The article stated that sarcoma represents less than 1 percent of cancers. That is true for adults, but sarcoma makes up about 15 percent of childhood sarcoma cases. The article says 12,000 people are diagnosed with sarcoma each year. That number refers to soft-tissue sarcomas. Almost 3,000 will be diagnosed with bone sarcomas.
The article suggests the U.S. has five medical facilities specializing in sarcoma. California alone has more than five, including ones at Stanford and UCSF.
People should understand that donations to the Sarcoma-Oma Foundation are not tax-deductible until the organization gets its 501(c)(3) status.
Sarcoma patients need correct information so they can tap into the many resources available. For the record, I was a newspaper reporter and editor before being diagnosed with sarcoma. I have helped patients find information for more than a decade.
Suzie Siegel | Tampa, Florida
Under Obama, chaos, bloodshed, barbarism
I like and respect Mark Cohen, but just about everything he said in his op-ed is false (“How quickly we forget: Mideast regime change is a failing policy,” Oct. 2).
First of all, for all of the initial mismanagement of postwar Iraq, Obama inherited from Bush a victory, for which he and Biden took credit: “We are leaving a stable, self-reliant, democratic Iraq … this is one of this administration’s greatest achievements.” The subsequent disintegration of Iraq must therefore be his responsibility as well.
Second, he creates the same straw man as Obama. The opponents of the Iran deal are not warmongers. As Obama and Kerry themselves said several times, “no deal is better than a bad deal.” Yet even deal supporters acknowledge this bad deal being “flawed, imperfect.” Opponents of the deal are trying to prevent the war that this deal facilitates, and, contrary to Cohen’s and Obama’s assertions, multiple alternatives have been suggested. Alan Dershowitz points out that taking military force off the table from the beginning gave us no leverage. If it were stated, “American policy is to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons by whatever means necessary,” the Iranians would have had to agree to the baseline demands Obama and Kerry initially laid down, then subsequently abandoned in their zeal to conclude any deal.
And how democratic is it to not even allow a vote, much less a debate, on the most momentous foreign policy decision of this century, one opposed by a majority of Congress and a majority of the American people? Obama’s “courageous demonstration of the power of negotiations” has resulted in the Middle East degenerating into chaos, bloodshed and barbarism.
The end result of Obama’s foreign policy misadventures will be chunks of the Middle East left radioactive and uninhabitable for centuries. At that point, those of us opposed to this deal will get no satisfaction from saying, “I told you so.” Then again, Obama supporters will probably blame Bush.
Sheldon Whitten-Vile | Oakland
‘Converts’ poem not very inclusive
Your choice of poetry (“The Converts”) in the Oct. 2 issue doesn’t seem to fit the mission and tradition of a publication as community-oriented as J. My basic complaint is that the poem perpetuates the idea that converts are a separate subset of the Jewish community (e.g., “six of them in the corner”), and that converts don’t quite fit in (“Why did they follow us here, did they think we were happier?”).
The poem also seems to struggle with aspects of Judaism (“The rabbi’s mouth opens and closes and opens”), a struggle that is understood — we wrestle with matters of the soul. But I think a considered result of the struggling and wrestling should be to think more in terms of “us” rather than “us and them.”
Since becoming Jewish as an adult 35 years ago, I’ve been fortunate to belong to a congregation (Temple Sinai) that strives to be inclusive in our ongoing efforts to improve ourselves, our communities and our corners of the world. I’m proud of our sense of community and believe that it sets a good example.
Dan Crouch | Oakland
Abbas is singing a ‘treacherous tune’
Mahmoud Abbas’ reference to the “filthy feet” of Jews on the Temple Mount is cynical double-talk. It exposes once and for all that there is only one view on the Arab Palestinian side, that of Hamas.
Hamas’ open intention is to massacre all Jews. The Palestinian Authority led by Abbas has the same intention but hides its own actions by blaming its “military wing,” the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade.
Abbas doesn’t seem to care that by legitimizing the Hamas approach, he sends the message that it’s his approach, too. At the next PA election, if there ever is one, Hamas will no doubt trounce the PA because ordinary Arab Palestinians will consider Abbas a traitor for even talking to the Israelis.
Maybe Israel should tell Abbas it will no longer protect him from Hamas. That may make him change his treacherous tune.
Desmond Tuck | San Mateo
Grieving both sides in cycle of violence
The year 5776 has ushered in an escalation of violence and hatred between Israelis and Palestinians. Nearly every day there are fresh reports of Palestinian terrorists stabbing Israelis, rock-throwing at the Temple Mount, hateful statements by Abbas about Jews’ filthy feet desecrating holy Muslim sites, Israeli forces killing Palestinian rock-throwers, and threatening statements by Netanyahu.
As has been well documented, each side has a narrative that justifies — seemingly even demands — an angry, forceful response. But as natural as that response is, we know that it condemns us, them, our children and their children to this unending cycle of violence and hatred.
Devarim teaches “Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God gives you.” We established a nation — maybe it would be just for Palestinians to get one, too? Of course, I don’t know for sure that it will work or if it’s even possible. But I know we must try.
When we hear of a Jew being stabbed, we should grieve but we should try to understand what led that Palestinian youth to wield the knife. Similarly, when we hear of a Palestinian being killed, we should mourn his wasted life and remember why some Israeli boy felt that he had to kill him. We must remind ourselves of our story, but learn theirs — and demand that our leaders do the same. Perhaps if we can feel both peoples’ histories, it will strengthen our resolve to attain the only satisfactory solution: the two-state solution.
Yonkel Goldstein | San Carlos