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Enlightenment

I'm canceling my summer rental in Malibu. Why? Well, I'm a Jew, a f—king Jew at that, and Mel Gibson owns that town.

I've also burned my special edition of "Braveheart." I'll never enjoy it again.

I do feel a lot of guilt now, however, having learned my people are the cause of all the wars in the world (I think there are about 125 conflicts right now so I can't possibly explain how we got the world involved in Tibet, East Timor, Darfur, Nigeria, Uganda, the Congo, the Amazon. You get the picture).

Probably most disturbing is the way we Jews tricked Hezbollah into collecting 15,000 missiles and crossing the border to kidnap Israeli soldiers. How freakin' clever are we?

And why should Israeli Jews overreact to 120 missiles raining down on them every day from the north and 70 missiles a day from the south. We're really just an overly sensitive group of people when you get right down to it.

Mel, you've enlightened me and everyone else about my people. So let me return the favor and enlighten you and your close colleagues in Hollywood with a word of advice, "Friends don't let friends drive racist."

Julie Brandt | San Francisco




A 'pathetic person'

Many have read about Mel Gibson and his drunk driving escapades over the last few years. According to the police reports, Gibson was very vocal this time regarding his anti-Semitism.

There have been reports that his father is anti-Semitic as well.

I think it's appalling that Gibson is allowed to say these things. There is no apology in the world that will permanently change my opinion of this pathetic person. I think we should all protest Gibson however we choose to. 

Les Corzberg | San Mateo




Truthful spirits

"In vino veritas" (in wine there is truth), which explains, once and for all, why Mel Gibson wrote and produced his film "The Passion," no matter what his prior denials were.

Ruth Pheffer | Greenbrae




The 'useless U.N.'

Since its deployment in Lebanon, the United Nation forces have done nothing to prevent or control attacks on Israel.

If anything, the United Nations and its observers always accused Israel of aggression when the Jewish state reacted to the murder of its citizens by terrorists.

The U.N. forces were useless until now in this part of the world, and will again serve no purpose in the future if deployed as a buffer zone between the terrorists and Israel.

The four U.N. soldiers killed were on a high hill observation post overlooking a most strategic area. Who knows? Perhaps Israel had its doubt about their neutrality.

Gershon Evan | San Francisco




Supporting Israel

Your July 28 editorial was both accurate and necessary. Over the past few years, anti-Israel protests have been marked by increasing anti-Jewish hate speech from the supporters of jihad as well as threats of violence directed against those who stand up for Israel.

Those who claim to be standing up as Jews against Israel somehow tolerate this hatred yet cannot abide the mere existence of a Jewish democratic state that provides rights to all its citizens, Jewish or not.

Groups like Bay Area Women in Black and Jewish Voice for Peace that claim to support peace are only found protesting pro-Israel events but are never seen at events such as the al-Awda conference at SFSU. Unfortunately, such groups often get media coverage, not only on TV or in the newspapers but even in j.

It is important for the pro-Israel community to demonstrate that these are fringe groups that don't represent the majority of Bay Area Jews. So when you hear about one of these groups planning a public anti-Israel display, please join StandWithUs/San Francisco Voice for Israel and other members of the pro-Israel community who will proudly stand up in support of the Jewish state. 

Michael Harris | San Rafael




Proud of Israel

Simply put, I am proud of Israel in these difficult days as they work to destroy Hezbollah's massive arms stockpiles in Lebanon.

I only hope that Israel will be given the opportunity to finish the job before the international community turns the signal red. 

Hezbollah's arsenal was assembled under the noses of UNIFIL troops, whose only contribution is to complain that the current IDF operation has endangered its troops.

Hezbollah has been known to base itself right next to United Nations' forces, in the hopes that Israel would inadvertently hit UNIFIL in response (as it finally did). This is understandable from Hezbollah's cynical perspective, but harder to fathom in relation to UNIFIL's mandate to restore peace and security.

To say UNIFIL failed in its mission is too kind. This implies that its presence is benign. In reality, UNIFIL has provided more security to Hezbollah than it has to Israel, thereby increasing the likelihood of conflict and helping to make the current war inevitable. 

Steve Lipman | Foster City




Culpability

Arnoldine Berlin's July 14 letter about Arab leaders keeping their Palestinian brethren in refugee camps provides an important view into the cause of Palestinian suffering. Yet the culpability of Arab leadership is even greater than Berlin suggests.

After Gaza came under Israel's control after the Six-Day War, Israel sought to destroy refugee camps in Gaza and build proper housing for Arab refugees. The Palestinian leadership and their Arab co-conspirators went ballistic over the plan and brought the issue to the United Nations (who sided with the Arabs — big surprise), and Israel was forced to back off from its plan to provide humane conditions to Arab refugees.

This is the reality that you will never read about in the New York Times and the Nation, and will never hear about on NPR or the BBC — that Arabs in general do not care about Palestinian suffering, and their only use for Palestinians is as a battering ram against Israel.

Did the Arab world (or the international left) cry out when Jordan massacred thousands of innocent Palestinians? Did the Arab world or their leftist travelers say a word when Kuwait ethnically cleansed tens of thousands of Palestinians after the first Gulf War?

Josh Baker | Bangkok




Bombardment

Your recent op-ed "Failing to get the word out in the information age" struck home. The well-funded Arab, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel propaganda campaign has been highly successful. The majority sentiment here and abroad has obviously shifted so that Israel is now considered the bad guy and the Palestinians the valiant underdogs.

Careful, clever choice of words, images and associations has achieved this shift in public opinion. Some organizations such as Honest Reporting and CAMERA are aware of this propaganda war and are doing something about it.

We can each help in our own choice of words and by assisting organizations that watchdog the media. Let's keep in mind marketing principles when planning campus and community events in order to reveal striking positive images of Jews and of Israel. People are not always logical, and balk at reading, researching or attending lectures. They are swayed by insidious anti-Israel messages that they are bombarded with. So let's do our own bombarding.

Laura Kostinsky | Mountain View




Collaborations cited

We are writing to ask that you no longer include synagogue programming in your Readers' Choice Awards. Our synagogues provide many different experiences. Each is unique and valuable.

This poll sets us up to be in competition with each other and that is not how we perceive our work or our relationships. Each of our synagogues is special. What we share is that we strive to create kehillot kedoshot, holy communities, where both congregants and non-congregants can find ways to pray, learn, celebrate and grieve together.

In fact, in Marin we are proud of our frequent collaborations, such as our community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration and tikkun leil Shavuot, and we are always striving to do more.

As has been mentioned in several other letters protesting your Readers' Choice Awards, instead of promoting competition and letter-writing campaigns, we invite you to write articles about the innovative and exciting programming that each of our congregation organizes.

Rabbi Lavey Derby |
Tiburon Congregation Kol Shofar
Rabbi Stacy Friedman | San Rafael
Congregation Rodef Sholom
Rabbi George Schlesinger | Santa Rosa
Congregation Beth Ami

Link to heritage

I want to thank you for the positive July 14 article on the opening of Mandel Funeral Services of Northern California. There was one comment that does need correction. Although it is true that we are the first Jewish funeral home serving many counties, including Sonoma and Napa, you stated that we are the first to serve Marin County. It should be noted that Sinai Memorial Chapel has served Marin County from their San Francisco office for many years.

Together, both our organizations will serve Marin County providing the community a link to their Jewish heritage at a difficult time.

Daniel A. Mandel | Vallejo
Mandel Funeral Services of Northern California

EDITOR'S NOTE: In addition to Sinai Memorial Chapel, many non-Jewish funeral homes in the areas cited offer Jewish services and burials.




No chemistry

I really enjoyed Rachel Sarah's July 28 column about dating and feeling no chemistry because she felt like they were "relatives."

That's so appropriately said. She has a way of writing that targets the issues of the times.

Even though I'm in my mid-50s now, I experienced the (Jewish) dating scene (YAD, etc.) in the '70s after a divorce, and hardly ever felt that "chemistry." The process is exhausting. I remember after each date (or series of dates) I would record the encounters in story format so that I had a dozen or more vignettes about the Jewish dating scene. Reading them years later was very humorous (unfortunately, they have disappeared).

I admire Rachel Sarah's courage in articulating her own experiences, which really reaches out to many in similar situations.

C.J. Breman | Tiburon




Bah, Lieberman

"Frumak" is a Yiddish word that defines Sen. Joseph Lieberman exactly (July 14 j.). "Frum" means a pious person who follows the precepts of religion closely. "Frumak" means "sanctimonious" and is anything but a compliment.

Lieberman is a "frumak" and hypocrisy is part of his "sticht."

He is a man who followed Jeb and George W. Bush by intervening in the Terri Schiavo case, and supports our misbegotten unconstitutional "war" in Iraq. Reminds me of another Jew, Sammy Davis Jr., hugging Nixon.

Finally, I am first an American Jew, not a Jewish American who, unlike Lieberman, would not think of passing moral judgment (that's the work of the Lord) on others as did "Joe" on Bill Clinton.

Ruth I. Gordon | Cloverdale

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