Rabbi Ronnie Greenwald
I was saddened and shocked to learn of the untimely passing of Rabbi Ronnie Greenwald (editorial and feature article, Jan. 29).
I met the rabbi and his charming wife only once, some 36 years ago in Israel. I had come from a business trip in Italy and was alone in Israel at that time. They immediately befriended me, taking me with them every day to visit many sites and personal acquaintances. I knew what a warm and caring person he was.
May his memory be a blessing.
Ned Weiss
(Via E-Mail)
Flatow Article Represents Reality
Re Stephen Flatow’s “Finding Palestinian Anger” (op-ed. Jan. 29):
Bingo! Totally on point and very well written. I echo all of Mr. Flatow’s points as they hold complete validity.
Thank you for this article, which represents reality.
Lynne Kay
(Via JewishPress.com)
Rabin’s Other Side
In his Jan. 22 op-ed article, Zionist Organization of America president Morton A. Klein portrayed the late Yitzhak Rabin as some kind of secret hawk who never would have agreed to a Palestinian state.
Klein cited a Knesset speech that Rabin gave on October 5, 1995, in which Rabin sounded slightly more hawkish than usual. What Klein failed to mention, however, is that just one week earlier, on September 28, 1995, Rabin had signed the Oslo II agreement, which created the de facto Palestinian state that exists today.
That agreement resulted in Israel turning over almost 40 percent of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority, enabling the PA to establish a regime with a huge security force that is really an army.
The PA has become a haven and shelter for terrorists because Israeli forces will not cross into PA territory to capture them. If that’s not a de facto state, what is?
It’s important that American Zionist leaders not sugarcoat reality and pretend that Rabin was something he was not. We dare not forget it was Rabin who embraced and legitimized Arafat; Rabin who appointed the extreme leftist Shulamit Aloni as education minister; and Rabin who pulled out of much of Judea and Samaria, preparing the foundation for today’s de facto Palestinian state.
Suri Cohen
Brooklyn, NY
Anti-Semitism Close To The Surface
Re “Pentagon Backs Down on Jewish Dentist’s ‘Dual Loyalty’ ” (editorial, Jan. 22):
The dual citizenship canard will never be eliminated until the unlikely event of the elimination of all anti-Semitism. I speak as a non-practicing American Jew who has never suffered any personal anti-Semitism. However, somehow I know how close to the surface anti-Semitism lives, even here in the U.S.
Maybe that knowledge is in the DNA of all Jews?
Zahna Murray
(Via JewishPress.com)
Snookered On Iran
All the questions and reservations about the Iran deal have been proven valid (“Iran…Again,” editorial, Jan. 22).
The promises, intoned with such sincerity by Obama and Kerry, with a straight face no less – “the world is safer today,” “a window to try to resolve important issues,” “the most comprehensive, intrusive inspection regime ever negotiated to monitor a nuclear program” – are all open to clarification and outright rebuttal.
The U.S. sailors were returned after they had been criminally kidnapped against all nautical laws and then humiliated with widely publicized videos of them on their knees, hands on their heads, a serious slap in the face of the U.S. – and yet Kerry heaped praise on his own diplomacy.
The U.S. was indeed “snookered” by Iran but Obama wanted the deal more than Iranians did, and the world will eventually pay a very high price for our president’s credulity and duplicity.
Fay Dicker
Lakewood, NJ
Obama’s Efforts On Race
I was recently walking home from work listening to my transistor radio, just like I did as a teenager. I’ve seen and heard so much since then. While switching between stations I came upon a snippet of a caller to a talk show making some point, and he mentioned President Obama, saying that “no president has ever divided this country more than Obama.”
I smiled and turned off the radio. I thought about how divided this country was on so many issues, including race, long before Obama took office. Racism in particular has been a problem since the founding of our country. We’ve made notable strides but I believe there is still so much further to go.
The issues arising from racism were, for the most part and for a very long time, swept under the rug. This refusal to address reality created a silent powder keg with explosions going off inside the hearts and souls of people who felt attacked or aggrieved but had limited outlets for expression.
For the most part, the country was split before Obama took office. And Obama, to his credit, chose to make the racial divide one of his signature issues. It would have been easier to be silent and pretend the rifts don’t exist. I cannot assess how successful he’s been in this regard; perhaps only time will tell. But I must compliment him for at least trying while so many other politicians prefer to look the other way and remain silent.
Alan Howard
(Via E-Mail)