PJA in the mix
I was delighted to read your favorable and inspiring coverage of the Jewish-Arab-Muslim Women’s Group project serving dinner at a San Francisco men’s shelter (“‘JAM’ session a success for Bay Area women’s group,” March 7).
I was dismayed, however, that your reporter failed to mention the active participation of Progressive Jewish Alliance and the complete list of other participating organizations. We had both staff and a PJA member on hand and have participated as an organization from the very start in building the group and honing its goals.
For us at PJA, this is a part of a broader initiative being launched this year to create Jewish-Muslim community bridging opportunities, modeled after our highly successful NewGround Program in Los Angeles.
I invite anyone in our community who identifies with PJA’s overarching social justice goals and campaigns (see our work at www.pjalliance.org) to join us in this effort, contacting us at [email protected].
Rachel Biale | Berkeley
Bay Area Regional Director, Progressive Jewish Alliance
No more patience on Darfur
Martina Knee is such a patient woman (“Stopping the Genocide in Darfur,” Feb. 27). While she apparently acknowledges 500,000 have been killed in the Darfur genocide, and about 2.7 million have been displaced, and roughly 4 million starved, all of this happening in the last six years, she feels the most powerful thing she can do is to make connection with the Darfuris.
She has been working on this problem for four years. Though the Sudanese government has not responded to entreaties from activists such as Mrs. Knee, she has hope. While she hopes, people in Darfur continue to be murdered, raped and starved.
By this time, it should be evident that military action against the Muslim Sudanese government is the only way to slow down or stop the genocide. We should bomb Khartoum intensively, targeting leaders’ homes, military installations, airports, railroads, large commercial buildings, major roads and government buildings. If necessary, the bombing can be repeated.
Edward Tamler | San Mateo
Neglecting the nuances
As someone who knew and dearly loved Dan Kliman, I have been very moved by your coverage of his life and spirit. His warmth, humor, vibrant love of life and passion for the Jewish people, the environment and for Israel will be sorely missed by so many people.
I was dismayed, however, to see that in your last warm-hearted editorial about Dan’s life and activism that International ANSWER and Women in Black were both said to be spewing hatred of Israel.
While ANSWER is indisputably anti-Semitic in how they frame the conversation about Israel, Bay Area Women in Black has tried to balance their criticism with a more nuanced view. It seems that our community suffers from deeper polarization when we do not articulate that nuance.
As someone who has facilitated many deep dialogue sessions within the Jewish community around the issue of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I know that supporting and criticizing Israel can each be polarizing to those who see the situation differently. It is my prayer that Dan’s tragic and too-early death will serve to bring the community closer together in deliberation, not divide us further.
Rachel Eryn Kalish | Woodacre
What’s cooking?
I love reading the “cook” column, and therefore was surprised that the Feb. 13 column by Louise Fiszer (“In a busy world, can a working woman make time for good food?”) was written about busy women — seemingly ignoring that men also cook, lead busy lives and indeed read that column.
At first, I thought perhaps it was the j. editors who crafted a poor headline. Alas, reading the first sentence, I realized they took their cues from the column.
What was behind the decision to write such a woman-centric column? It disappointed me.
Howard Steiermann | San Francisco