Terrorism And Double Standards
For decades the State Department has repeatedly berated Israel in its existential struggle against murderous terrorists.
Now in the wake of the horrible terrorist attacks in Paris, will the State Department remain consistent in its policies and demand that France exhibit restraint and not use disproportionate force against Islamic State militants?
Moreover, will the State Department demand that France make a gesture for peace by freezing all building in disputed areas?
Finally, will the State Department now demand the imposition of a two-state solution, one for the French and one for the Muslims, with Paris the joint capital of both states?
If not, its immoral double standard toward Israel will be undeniable and unsustainable.
Chaim ben Zvi
Queens, NY
Destroy Islamic Terrorists In Syria
The Western world has to go into Syria and Iraq to eliminate ISIS. ISIS has established a caliphate, and if we destroy it in Syria and Iraq its tentacles in other countries will hopefully wither away. The Islamic terrorists in Europe take their instructions from ISIS in Syria, and maybe we can draw the terrorists in other parts of the world back to Syria where they can be eliminated.
We cannot continue with limited air strikes and tepid ground action against ISIS, because contrary to President Obama, ISIS is not a “contained JV” organization.
Ultimately, the West and some Arab countries will have to put together a coalition for a large-scale military operation against ISIS.
The White House does not understand the serious threat ISIS poses to the free world. We cannot continue with a piecemeal approach to an enemy that is growing and wants to destroy us.
Donald Moskowitz
Londonderry, NH
Palestinian Lies
Predictably and wholly fallaciously the Palestinians, this time with a complicit Sweden, have turned the Paris terror attack into another opportunity to blame Israel for the alleged “dire straits” the “poor” Palestinians are facing.
Fatah, under the putatively moderate Mahmoud Abbas, is engaged in a smear campaign against Israel by imputing that the brutal killing sprees by Islamic State were aided and abetted by Israel. The Palestinians are, sadly, so accustomed to the anti-Israel prejudice endemic in the world at large that these bizarre accusations require no proof of actual guilt for the spurious charges to be accepted as true.
It is surely time that the UN, the EU, and the U.S. voice their aversion to being exploited as party to the delusion of Israel’s culpability for the deaths and injuries of hundreds of innocent civilians murdered by Muslim terrorists in their macabre pursuit of a caliphate.
Fay Dicker
Lakewood, NJ
Wisdom From The Iron Lady
The barbarism and carnage on the streets of Paris are a stark reminder that the free world is at war with brutal terrorist groups who seek to sow death, fear, and destruction in the West.
This is a moment for robust and bold leadership from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, who must be prepared to emphatically defeat the enemy we face. In the words of Britain’s Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, after she survived an assassination attempt while serving as prime minister:
“The terrorist threat to freedom is worldwide. It can never be met by appeasement. Give in to the terrorist and you breed more terrorism. At home and abroad our message is the same. We will not bargain, nor compromise, nor bend the knee to terrorists.”
Brian J. Goldenfeld
Woodland Hills, CA
Vetting Refugees
I cannot understand how President Obama thinks and functions. He took an oath as every president does to uphold the Constitution of the United States and to protect and defend America as its commander in chief.
I know he has compassion for the Syrians but that does not mean he cannot have compassion for the people of the United States. All that Congress wants to do is screen Syrians before they are admitted to America. Every immigrant and every traveler is screened.
There is no possible excuse for a president of the United States to allow thousands of people into the country knowing nothing about them except that they are leaving Syria. This is no time for Democrats to play party politics and back a wrong decision made by their leader. It is the foremost task of Congress to make sure President Obama does not veto a bill that authorizes scrutiny of the Syrian arrivals.
Toby Willig
Jerusalem
Line Of Separation
If you’re anything like me, perhaps there are times in your life when you scratch your head and ask yourself what the purpose is behind many of the mitzvot – even though the sages have explained that our human minds cannot fully appreciate the meaning behind a God-given commandment
Last week, while I was giving a class on various reasons for the commandments, the answer to that question hit me right in the face. I realized that the laws of kashrut, Shabbat, niddah, chametz, shatnez, marrying within the faith, etc., all share one common theme: separation .
And while watching the news I began to realize yet another dynamic of God’s infinite brilliance vis-a-vis the mitzvot. God is telling us that while there are benefits to all of the commandments, the ultimate goal is for us to draw a line in the sand, so to speak, and say “this is good, and this is bad.”
This is a particularly difficult concept for the average American to understand, let alone accept, because we are a peaceful people by nature whose approach to life is pretty much live and let live
But Jews have had some experience in the dying and suffering department and we understand evil all too well. And lest we forget the necessity of separating good and evil, Hashem reinforces this theme within his mitzvot. Because evil distorts the truth and creates a smokescreen of obfuscation, as when a U.S. president cannot bring himself to call a Muslim terrorist what he in fact is – a Muslim terrorist. Why? Because the line has been blurred to the extent that much of the world perceives the Jews as oppressors and aggressors.
The line between good and bad may have been blurred for others, but it was drawn very clearly for us a long time ago.
Avi Ciment
(Via E-Mail)
