Letters

Bad math

Evelyn Gordon of the Jerusalem Post argues in favor of Israel's acceptance of the Palestinian right of return, but only under certain conditions — "Why not say yes to the 'right of return'?" (June 3 j.).

She looks at the definition of a refugee formulated by the United Nations high commissioner for refugees and concludes that it is ridiculous to accept "the idea that refugee status can be passed on to one's descendants and their descendants, generation after generation, world without end."

I do not understand how we, Jews, claim a right to return to the land after 2,000 years, but deny the same right to Palestinians after 50 years. The math just does not add up.

Sydney Levy | San Francisco




'The right thing'

The public statements of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas condemning Israeli air strikes against Hamas militants firing mortars from Kahn Yunis at Israeli towns and settlements is predictable. He can accuse Israel all he wants about "destroying the calm," but the real proof of the Palestinians intentions can be judged on deeds, not hollow words.

If the Palestinians were making maximal efforts to root out terror groups in conjunction with Israel's planned disengagement this summer, a key obligation under the road map, then one might be more sympathetic. While the atmosphere of cooperation has certainly improved, the results are tenuous at best.

Israel is doing absolutely the right thing by withdrawing from Gaza, with or without Palestinian cooperation, as a necessary first step towards both sides coexisting peacefully in a heated pressure-cooker environment.

If the Palestinians were doing their best, then Israel would not have to act. But Israel does act, in some ways as a proxy for the Palestinians. If the Palestinians refuse to confront rejectionists like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, then it will be left to Israel to do so on its own.

Steve Lipman | Foster City




No blanket

I appreciated your May 20 article about the recent visit of Rabbi Arik Ascherman. However, your headline ("Activist rabbi tells Presbyterians divestment is wrong on all counts") distorted his view and that of Rabbis for Human Rights.

The article reports that "Ascherman said it was not the place of Rabbis for Human Rights to endorse or condemn the Presbyterian resolution regarding divestment." This is consistent with his response to a direct question posed to him at a meeting with him in Sacramento.

As in San Francisco, he emphasized the importance of hope for both Israelis and Palestinians. He went on to say that his personal view on the divestment issue is that selective divestment may be useful, but that he would oppose blanket divestment because it would be too much like group punishment.

There can be no ethical objection to divestment from a company like Caterpillar that supplies specialized equipment for home demolitions that violate international human rights standards. However, the political effectiveness of such divestment would be enhanced by simultaneous investment in joint economic and other ventures between Israelis and Palestinians, as urged by Ascherman.

Stella Levy | Sacramento




'Deep Throat' and Jews

You published an article June 3 claiming that President Nixon expressed surprise W. Mark Felt, whom he was incorrectly told was Jewish, had reached such a high position in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The thrust, of course is that Nixon disliked Jews.

I remember that in my childhood it was repeatedly claimed in the Jewish community that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was an anti-Semite, and that Jews didn't even work at the FBI. I don't know if that was just another paranoid left-wing myth, but we shouldn't be surprised if Nixon believed it as well.

I know of several senior FBI agents and other high level staff who are Jewish, who came on board in the 1970s and 1980s. Maybe someone should ask "Deep Throat" Felt why our numbers in the agency were so few when he was a senior FBI official; or are we still such Nixon-haters that we dare not tarnish the image of the new liberal hero who allegedly broke the grand jury secrecy laws to help bring him down?

Art Zeidman | Walnut Creek




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