J Street a ‘breath of fresh air’

Thank you for the article on the J Street kick-off event in San Francisco (“J Street event to launch local presence,” Jan. 29).

What a breath of fresh air! I want so much to be able to openly discuss Israel with other Jews, without being accused of being a “self-hating” Jew. I love Israel and I want the Jewish state to be a “Light Unto the Nations,” not a pariah. J Street offers us the unique opportunity, as Jews, to support Israel and support peace.

Many of us who have felt alienated from Israel now have a forum to be pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Only a viable two-state solution will assure Israel’s continued existence as a Jewish democratic state. Yasher koach J Street!

Rabbi Chaim Schneider   |   Aptos

Hardly ‘pro-Israel’

J Street has expressed its support for policies contained in a letter to the president initiated by Rep. Keith Ellison. These policies are:

1. That Israel, unlike any other country in the world, may not control its borders, but must open them to Hamas, an entity who has declared a war of extermination against Israel.

2. That Israel must allow Hamas to dictate what Israel shall export to Gaza, including war materials such as concrete and rebar for building bunkers.

3. That should Israel refuse to adopt these policies, it must be coerced into doing so through diplomatic pressure by a foreign power, i.e., the United States.

Since J Street’s members and leadership do not live in, vote in, defend or share the risks of Israel, they have no Israeli political channel for their opinions. Instead J Street has aligned itself with Israel’s enemies by advocating coercive action against the state. J Street’s claim of being “pro-Israel” is therefore nothing more than taqiyya, lying to your enemies in the service of jihad.

Richard C. Roistacher   |   Belmont

Gaza letter supports our enemies

Six of the Bay Area representatives, including San Mateo’s Jackie Speier, are among the 54 Democratic members of Congress who signed a letter to President Obama urging him to pressure Israel into actual cooperation with Hamas.  It is difficult to interpret this letter otherwise. Apparently, with all the money pouring in from Iran and other terrorism supporters, Hamas is too busy to pay attention to Gazans’ regular life. Thus, providing for their everyday needs should fall into the Israelis’ laps.

The letter was initiated by the well-known Israel basher congressman from Minnesota, Keith Ellison. That’s how the Huffington Post has excitedly described the letter in its edition of Jan. 31: “The fact that your favorite liberal is not among the 54 does not mean he or she disagrees with their braver colleagues. It only means that they are not ready to stand up and be counted. The 54 deserve our thanks as does J Street and Americans for Peace Now, which supported the House effort that was led by three Minnesotans: Keith Ellison, James Oberstar, and Betty McCollum.” Hopefully, no comments are needed.

Vladimir Kaplan   |   San Mateo

Jury still out on climate change

In a recent article two prominent rabbis argue that we should encourage Congress to enact comprehensive climate change legislation that won’t harm the economy (“On Tu B’Shevat, we must commit to serious climate action,” Jan. 29). The rabbis don’t say where to draw the lines, or what the point of the legislation might be if we can’t apply it to China.

The authors didn’t mention the climate change scandals and conflicts of interest that have recently come to light. It’s as though they never heard of the East Anglia e-mails that give us reason to be skeptical of the global warmists. They don’t mention the glaciers that are supposed to be disappearing but are actually doing just fine.

They ignore the evidence that some of the scientists who have gone public on the climate change bandwagon may have been bought off. At this point, the jury’s still out on climate change because the data isn’t reliable.

Rabbis should stick to what they know. When they use religion to push a political agenda it just reflects badly on the profession as a whole.

Allan Yannow   |   El Cerrito