Is HIAS bringing our enemies here?
I was very distraught to read the op-ed by Mark Hetfield, HIAS CEO, asking for donations to help the organization with resettling Syrian refugees (“Stepping up to aid refugees — because we are Jewish,” Oct. 16). He also asked that pressure be put on our political leaders to increase the immigration quota to 100,000 immigrants from the Middle East. On Sept. 25, J. published a two-page cover story about JFCS East Bay’s involvement in resettling refugees mostly from Muslim countries.
My family and I always will be grateful to HIAS and JFCS for their help bringing Russian Jews to the United States. You brought us to safety. But that safety net is evaporating and a feeling of vulnerability is increasing as anti-Semitic attacks grow from year to year.
Jewish people have always opened their arms to help other nations in time of need, but we have to preserve ourselves as well. Europe is bleeding and Jews are running away for safety — should not this serve as a great example of the tragedy brought by Muslim immigrants? These are the people who bash Israel and harass our children at schools. European anti-Semitism is on the rise and nobody can stop it. How blind, naive and stupid it is to expose our loved ones to the same tragedy?
Mr. Hetfield, you have tremendous obligations to the Jewish people who helped to establish HIAS 134 years ago. If Jewish immigration no longer exists, perhaps it is time to dissolve your agency.
I am refusing to donate to an organization that works to destroy the community it was built to serve.
Alex Ryvkin | San Francisco
Maintain status quo, expect bloodshed
Innocent Israeli citizens should feel comfortable and safe in their own surroundings (“Palestinian wave of violence is beyond reprehensible,” Oct. 16). By the same token, J.’s editorial fails to offer solutions or hope for the occupied Palestinians who have been living for 40 years under desperate circumstances and are left with no choice other than to rebel (who would not wish to rebel under these circumstances?). Bloodshed on both sides is a sure bet for years to come.
Furthermore, as an Israeli-American citizen I find inaccuracies in the quote by Times of Israel editor David Horovitz that Israel would be rendered “untenably weak and vulnerable” due to the rise of Islamic extremists. Several recent Israeli documentaries have disputed that notion, for example “The Gatekeepers,” which featured six prominent former Israeli heads of security who strongly rejected the right-wing Israeli government’s handling of the occupied territories. They each noted that the current and past right-wing government policies failed because they lacked the desire to make real peace. They also stated that the only way to achieve peace would be to go to the negotiating table with the extremist factions like Hamas and be willing to do the difficult task of giving up territory for peace.
However, it has been evident for years that the right-wing government has no real desire to give up territories and would rather maintain the status quo of the occupiers and the occupied for years to come. That is the real tragedy.
Sharone Negev | San Francisco
Israelis have every right to self-defense
I take exception to J.’s editorial criticism of Jerusalem’s mayor for encouraging Israelis to arm themselves (Oct. 16). It is absolutely not the place of J. to dictate what Israelis can or cannot do to defend themselves against terror attacks. As the world is silent in the face of these daily barbaric attacks, Israeli citizens have every right and obligation to defend themselves. The split-second defense reactions with concealed weapons are precisely the difference between life and death.
The violence has nothing to do with the myriad pretexts of “occupation” or the “Temple Mount.” Imams, Palestinian leaders and officials who incite violence and murder must be arrested. Any moral equivalency between Israelis using lawful force to stop the attacks and Palestinian terrorists inflicting murder and bodily injuries sends a clear message to Israel’s enemies to continue their violence.
Israel will survive only through strength. The U.S. must first lead in this effort to show with words and deed that it is an ally of Israel and not an apologist for murderers of innocent Jews in the streets of Israel.
Rachel Astrachan | Pleasant Hill
Jewish Democrats like to deny reality
In his op-ed about the GOP House divided, Douglas Bloomfield, like many on the left, blames the right for the low point we are witnessing in the American-Israel relationship (“Will extremist House retain Jewish funders’ support?” Oct. 9). He writes that it was Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, engineered by Republicans and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, that led to this crisis.
Does Bloomfield really believe this? In his fantasy world, the crisis in relations has nothing to do with the president’s unabashed hostility toward Israel and Netanyahu, exemplified by Obama’s admission at the beginning of his first term that he wanted to create “daylight” between Israel and the U.S. His blaming Israeli settlements as the roadblock to peace, rather than Palestinian intransigence and anti-Semitism. The “anonymous” source in his administration calling Netanyahu “Chicken s–t.” Obama appointing Israel-basher Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense. The disastrous Iran nukes deal spearheaded by Obama. Rather, according to Bloomfield, Republicans are to blame for the diplomatic crisis.
I suppose this is how Jews keep convincing themselves to vote for Democrats: Deny reality.
Sam Levine | Lafayette
Palestinians their own worst enemy
Letter-writer Yonkel Goldstein is engaging in wishful thinking (“Grieving both sides in cycle of violence,” Oct. 16). The occupation and settlements are not the cause of Arab terrorism in Israel and the West Bank. There has been terrorism against Jews in Palestine since the 1920s, before the modern State of Israel. The reason for the violence is Arabs teaching and preaching to hate and kill Jews. And that terrorism is preventing the creation of a Palestinian state. Palestinians are their own worst enemy.
Norman G. Licht | San Carlos