EDITORIAL

Dear Ruth,

I write to you as a Jewish man who is both
American and a Zionist. I have lived in
America all my life and I hate war and
insecurity.

Is Dorothy Naor suggesting that America
stop sending Israel any weapons and stop
all military cooperation and then Israel
will have only the one last war and we
would not have to be concerned anymore
with its defense?

Over 23,000 Jews have been killed
by enemies and more than that have been
killed in highway accidents.

61 years of the use of force in defense of
our Holy Land has fixed things so that
Israel can continue to defend itself and
maybe even defeat its foes. For surely
without a strong deterrent no nation can
endure the onslaught.

To make matters worse, those who
seek to defend themselves and their
neighbors are harassed by the Israeli police
and appeasement courts. Defenders of Jews
have had their computers confiscated, been
called to interrogations, jailed
or have been made to sign declarations
forbidding them to "interfere". To add
insult to injury, police actions are
done under the excuse that to do otherwise
will result in Arab unrest!

There will never be peace, however, until the
destruction of Israel is eradicated from the
Muslim psyche. The Palestinian catastrophe
never would have occurred if not for the
intransigence of the Arab world in refusing
this national identity many times and fostering
the destruction of the Jews. Further, the hate
emanating from Muslim quarters far and wide
did not begin in 1948, but comes directly
from Mohammad and his Koran.

Dorothy Naor speaks of extra-judicial executions,
and land confiscations. I challenge her to
demonstrate that in each such instance it was
both true and sponsored as a national policy.
As for no freedom of movement, what would you do
if the enemies' movement endangered you and your
kin?

We know it is a fact that Arabs have built many
thousands of buildings without permits while
Israeli's who do not request permits or evade taxes
are challenged all the time.

Appeasement and pacifism, history shows us, is the
best way to waging the same fight over and over
again. Until there is a winner the war cycle is
hard to end.

B'Shalom,

YITZI
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I appreciate this. As soon as I comprehensively review this I will have a reply for you and all my readers. I advocate for Israel just as I do for America with all of our faults, but I will never ask another country to set America straight when we, like Israel, can make things better ourselves and make ourselves better in the process.

Shabbat Shalom,
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Dear Ruth,

How will the terrible devastation
in Gaza make us safer?


Not in USA? click here.I write to you as a Jewish woman who is both American and Israeli. I have lived in Israel for over 50 years, and I can tell you that I have had enough of wars and insecurity.

America keeps on sending us billions of dollars in weapons every year. And yet, Israel has become the least safe country for Jews to live in (except for war zones such as Afghanistan, where no one is safe).

Nowhere else in the world since WWII have we Jews lived through 12 wars/battles/campaigns--all in less that 61 years.

Nowhere else in the world since WWII have so many Jews been killed in violence--over 23,000 since Israel came into being.

Nowhere else in the world have so many Jews been injured.

And yet, we have no security. 61 years of the use of force have not brought us Israelis one iota of security.

To make matters worse, those of us who are seeking peace find ourselves harassed by the Israeli police. A number of my colleagues have had their computers confiscated, been called to interrogations, or have been made to sign declarations forbidding them to talk with one another. To add insult to injury, the police actions were carried out on Israel's Memorial Day to send a subtle message to the public that our activism may compromise Israel's security.

Our crime? We dared to ask questions. We dared to ask whether militarism was the only way. We are undeterred. We will continue asking.

It is your time to ask too.
If you are an American, please take a moment right now to call on Congress to ask the question: what happened with your US tax dollars in Gaza?
If you live in another country, ask yourself whether your government is involved in this trade of weapons and destruction.

Here in Israel, we do not need more US weapons. We need you to help us achieve peace-real peace.

There can be no peace, however, until the Palestinians have justice. The Palestinian catastrophe since 1948 has included expulsion from their homes and lands, and for those who remained in the West Bank and Gaza, extra-judicial executions, land confiscations, no freedom of movement, nor the freedom to build homes and communities, Palestinians live always with the fear of Israeli military incursions. Since September 29, 2000 Israel has killed 6,248 Palestinians. 1,487 of these have been children.

Israel's Memorial Day is the saddest day in the year for me, not only because of those who are already buried, but because of all those who might be killed for generations to come unless you help us achieve a just peace.

Sincerely,

A 77 year old grandmother who immensely wants her grandchildren and all the children in the area to have a future to look forward to.


"One person can make a difference, and every person must try."

John F. Kennedy

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

Mohandas Gandhi

"If I can't dance, I do not want to be a part of your revolution."

Emma Goldman