Regents made the right move
I’d like to applaud the higher-ups in the U.C. system for speaking against the divest-from-Israel movements that are becoming so prevalent on today’s college campuses (“U.C. president, regents decry divest-from-Israel efforts,” May 14).
BDS (boycott-divest-sanctions) movements are insidious, anti-Israel, and gaining distressing speed nationwide, especially on campus. It is heartening, therefore, to see that not only are student governments on some of these campuses rejecting proposals to ostracize Israel, but that their superiors on the U.C. Board of Regents and even Mayor Gavin Newsom are legitimizing their efforts to treat Israel fairly.
I hope this article encourages pro-Israel college students, and indeed all who are pro-Israel, to keep fighting for Israel’s right to exist. No matter how vicious or unfair the criticism may be, people in power are still on Israel’s side.
Taylor Edelhart | San Francisco
Civil discourse urgently needed
We the East Bay Council of Rabbis, representing the diversity of denominations and approaches to Judaism in the greater East Bay, are horrified to hear of and unequivocally condemn recent acts of violence within our own Jewish community.
Around the table on our council we also have a wide spectrum of concerns when it comes to Israel’s vulnerabilities, but we express those concerns with ‘derech eretz’ and mutual respect.
The recent attack upon the home of Rabbi Michael Lerner (“Lerner blames right-wingers for attack on Berkeley home,” May 7) and Rabbi Debora Kohn highlights the urgent need to return to mutual listening and civil means of expressing political disagreement. Acts of violence, incivility and intimidation are wrong no matter how passionately we care about the issues involved.
East Bay Council of Rabbis | Walnut Creek
Arabs’ hidden motives
Douglas Bloomfield shows that he doesn’t fully understand the Arab aims when he writes: “The Palestinians want to end 43 years of occupation, create a state of their own and have the U.S. deliver the Israeli concessions they can’t.” (“Indirect peace talks begin, but where’s the sense of urgency?” May 14).
What the Arabs really want is the dissolution of Israel! They don’t want a Palestinian state alongside of Israel. They want a Palestinian state superseding Israel. They want to use these talks to weaken Israel using Obama’s pressure. They will turn down any peace proposal that will allow Israel to flourish, and the people of Israel to live in security.
Arthur Cohn | Portola Valley
Rahm Emanuel’s ‘fake contrition’
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recently stated publicly that the Obama administration has “screwed up the messaging” on its policy toward Israel. My late mother would have said that Emanuel is “too clever for one person.”
Why did Emanuel, a brilliant, well-educated and experienced man in politics, who understands Israel and the world Jewish community intimately, take more than a year to figure this out and then come out and say it?
It seems likely that as one of President Obama’s top “court Jews,” Emanuel has been tasked with mollifying Israel’s many U.S. supporters who pushed back against Obama administration statements purporting to be ‘even-handed’ in a pointless attempt to appease the Islamic world.
Politics intrinsically requires a leader to “play to the crowd” in order to remain popular. In short, talk is cheap, and I don’t buy Emanuel’s fake contrition.
Desmond Tuck | San Mateo