Palestinians should look at own leaders
Yossi Beilin’s op-ed (“Arabs’ new sense of ‘power to the people’ taking hold of Palestinians, too,” June 17) ends with a strange analogy, suggesting that a “Palestinian Tahrir Square” would consist of “mass marches to Israel’s borders.”
The Tahrir Square demonstrators weren’t massing against Israel, or Sudan, or Libya, or anyone else’s country. They were complaining about the autocratic leadership of their own country. A true “Palestinian Tahrir Square” would bring Palestinians together to call on their own leadership to undo the errors of the past 60-plus years, when they have repeatedly placed destruction of Israel as a higher priority than building a nation of their own.
When the masses of the Palestinian people call for peace with Israel, and accept Israel as a Jewish state, there will be peace. But if the Palestinian equivalent of Tahrir Square is another attempt to invade Israel, nothing will come of it.
Dan Fendel | Piedmont
Israel’s many 67s
I confess that I overreacted when Obama called for the 67 borders as a starting point for a Middle East dialogue. Initially I mistakenly thought he was referring to 1967 when during the Six-Day War Israel defended itself from the armies of Jordan, Egypt and Syria as they attacked the young state from three sides. My only question to Obama is, which 67?
Maybe 67 BCE when the Jewish rule of Israel is interrupted by Roman General Pompey as he captured Israel after warming up on Spartacus and his army of 300 slaves during that epic cinematic clash.
Or maybe 67 C.E. when Emperor Nero and his Romans again conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple, before Nero returned to Rome to practice his fiddling instead of rushing to form a firefighters association.
So maybe this is a reasonable starting point but with one clarification. The countries negotiating with Israel on these 67 borders should be Italy and perhaps Greece. So I suggest that Silvio Berlusconi and George Papandreou meet up with Bibi Netanyahu over some fine Italian wine, a gyro and a side of hummus to discuss those 67 borders.
Douglas Fish | Walnut Creek
Circumcision is unnecessary
Why is it always the Democratic politicos that are for infant abuse? They may be the party of civil liberties, but certainly are not the party of civil/human rights.
And why, pray tell, do certain quarters always dig up these ancient (nah, archaic!), dyed-in-the-wool pro-circumcision doctors for enlightened advice? Even the great Dr. Spock, who once agitated for infant circumcision, eventually changed his mind about this unnecessary procedure.
Paul Zuppan | Walnut Creek
New ‘Hitler diaries’?
The four pages of a “typed” letter from Hitler on an anti-Semitic rant in 1919 will turn out to be as trustworthy and authentic as the “handwritten” Hitler diaries “found” in 1983.
I have little doubt that paper of 1919 quality can be found, as well as a typewriter of the same era.
Gershon Evan | San Francisco