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Pullout concerns

It now seems likely that Israel will withdraw from Gaza.

As leaders in the San Francisco district of ZOA, we feel that all of us should be aware of concerns that should be understood by our entire Jewish community.

Gaza is only 30 miles from Tel Aviv, the center of Jewish population in Israel.

In January 2005, Hamas won a landslide victory in the first municipal elections in Gaza, capturing 75 percent of the vote: The final tally gave Hamas 75 council seats, Fatah 39, with control of seven out of 10 municipalities going to Hamas.

Yossi Beillin, chair of Yachad-Meretz, has observed, "A retreat from Gaza and nothing in return will strengthen Hamas."

General Moishe Ya'alon, when he left as IDF chief, observed in Ha'aretz, "There will be an eruption of terrorist attacks of all types, shootings, bombs, suicide bombers, mortars, Qassem rockets, and there is a high probability a second war of terror will begin in the West Bank."

Even as Israel proceeds with the withdrawal, we must be aware that this action leaves us with many concerns.

Donna Levin
president, San Francisco district, ZOA
Jacques Torczyner
honorary national president
Michael Franzblau, M.D.
vice president, national board of directors

Orange violators

Steve Berley put things in perspective better than I ever could (July 15 letters) in reference to disengagement extremists picketing Israeli consulates across North America.

In my own Chicago neighborhood, settler activists, in full violation of city ordinances, have adorned orange ribbons to stop signs and lampposts. They also demonstrated in front of the Israeli Consulate here July 24.

I could hope these Windy City settlers would step back, take stock of their actions, and then disengage from them.

By vociferously attacking Ariel Sharon's program for Gaza they show they are more loyal to their agenda of a "Greater Israel" than the Jewish state itself.

If the Jewish orangemen in our midst really loved Eretz Yisrael, as they stridently claim to do, they'd support the Gaza disengagement without qualification.

David L. Blatt | Chicago




Pillars of faith

Yitzhak Santis' desire that the Jewish community speak with one voice on the Gaza withdrawal plan (July 22 letters) is commendable. However, there are some differences that are too big to be papered over.

The land of Israel, in its entirety, is the eternal heritage of the Jewish nation. No Israeli government, whether democratically elected or not, has the authority to give away any part of it, just as it has no authority to abolish any law of the Torah.

The mad rush to retreat from Gaza clearly shows that Israel's leaders fear the nations more than they fear their Maker, a formula that has traditionally led to catastrophe.

Israel will never prevail over all of its foes, and will never achieve true and lasting peace until it stands firmly on the two central pillars of our faith: the sovereignty of God, and the truth of the covenant. Policies based on other philosophies will continue to produce harmful and damaging results.

Martin Wasserman | Sunnyvale




Film fest 'screed'

As a longtime Jewish Film Festival attendee, I've seen a number of experts and pundits use the bully pulpit of the festival stage to express opinions on areas of their personal expertise on a wide variety of opinions. Some I agreed with, and some I disagreed with.

I have never been more disgusted by the use of the honorary platform to bash Israel than I was by screenwriter Walter Bernstein's comments following the screening of "The Front" at the Castro Theatre.

Bernstein legitimately could have commented on his personal story of discrimination, even to comment on the state of present-day civil liberties — topics I feel he is qualified to comment on, rather than bashing settlers, Israel's security fence and political policies to raucous applause from a predictable few.

Woody Allen and Zero Mostel's performances in the film were memorable, recounting Hollywood's struggle against the McCarthy—era blacklists. Bernstein himself was blacklisted in the '50s. But he is unqualified to comment on Israel's political and military policies.

Shame on the film festival for not foreseeing this rant, and for offending myself and others who came to learn about the Hollywood blacklists and instead was subjected to Bernstein's anti-Israel screed.

Steve Lipman | Foster City




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