‘Lock Her Up’?
I was watching a news clip of a recent President Trump rally where the crowd was in a frenzy chanting, “Lock her up! Lock her up!” in reference to Hillary Clinton.
I focused in on one woman who was vehemently uttering these words, and I felt so sorry for her. She seemed to genuinely love America, but her chant is the antithesis of what this country stands for. We don’t lock people up because we feel they deserve it. There is due process, which is protected by the Constitution.
If someone thinks a crime has been committed, he or she presents evidence to the police or prosecutors who decide whether there is enough evidence to bring charges. If charges are brought, a grand jury is then presented with evidence and decides if enough exists to indict the accused.
If there is, and if the accused pleads not guilty, a trial is held to determine whether he or she is guilty; if yes, a vote is held to convict and a judge imposes a sentence. Then and only then can the person be locked up.
So why don’t the people shouting “Lock her up! Lock her up!” shout something like, “Put her on trial! Put her on trial!”?
I think they don’t because it won’t fully release the anger inside them. They won’t get their catharsis.
But it’s not hate that makes America great. It’s fairness, based on the law.
Alan Magill
Netanyahu, Do Something!
It was with an aching heart that I read the anguished cry – “Enough Jewish Blood Has Been Spilt” – of my dear friend, Chaim Silberstein, in last week’s Jewish Press
Chaim and his wife Liora were forced to bury their three-day-old first grandson after a terrorist shot his mother, forcing her to undergo an emergency C-section. Thank G-d, his parents are miraculously recovering thanks to G-d, the doctors at Shaarei Tzedek, and all of Am Yisrael, which prayed and donated blood.
Now it’s time for Prime Minister Netanyahu – who is also Israel’s defense minister – to answer some of the questions Chaim Silberstein asked in his open letter to him: “Will the security of our brothers and sisters be neglected just to advance yet another process, or to sign another meaningless paper at the behest of some government in some far away friendly, or not so friendly, country? Will justice be served?”
I fully join his request of Netanyahu: “Take off the gloves…our wonderful IDF has been restrained for too long – take action!”
Helen Freedman
Co-Executive Director
Americans for a Safe Israel
Why Don’t You Learn To Be Tolerant?
In his letter to the editor two weeks ago, Josh Greenberger heaps “high praise” on the Vaad Harabanim of Flatbush for allegedly threatening to revoke the hechsher of a Flatbush kosher restaurant because it agreed to host a private comedy event at which a homosexual woman was to perform.
He argues that “nobody is stopping her” from being homosexual and that the Flatbush community has the right to “guard its religion.”
Setting aside the fact that the comedian does not discuss her orientation when she performs, one wonders how religion is “guarded” by barring someone from giving a show at a kosher restaurant.
Would Mr. Greenberger advocate banning Jerry Seinfeld from performing at kosher restaurants? After all, he desecrates the Sabbath, a serious Torah violation. Would Mr. Greenberger ban Indian performers? They worship Buddha and other idols, another serious Torah violation.
I wonder what Mr. Greenberger would say if he were denied housing, or a mortgage, or medical services because the devout Christian provider of these services sincerely believes he needs to be “guarded” from those who reject his savior.
I suspect that Mr. Greenberger would be offended. Perhaps, then, he might modify his views about the right to be “guarded” from others with different beliefs.
While he is certainly entitled to his religious beliefs, his desire to be guarded doesn’t validate, as he suggests, malicious interference with another person’s livelihood and performance at a private event.
Harold Hoffman
Englewood, NJ
ISIS Is Crippled – Thanks To Trump
People are up in arms over President Trump’s decision to pull our troops out of Syria, claiming it will benefit ISIS.
I don’t think so. As Trump has noted, ISIS is pretty much defeated. And it’s not just boots on the ground that decimated ISIS; it’s one act in particular by Trump that served as the final nail in ISIS’s coffin: the dropping of “the mother of all bombs” (MOAB) on ISIS’s labyrinth of caves in the Afghanistan mountains in April 2017.
It’s logical to assume that’s where ISIS kept its massive stockpile of weapons. Without this stockpile, ISIS – or whatever is left of it – just can’t wreak the same kind havoc as it did before and, in fact, it hasn’t wracked much havoc since that MOAB destroyed its “headquarters.” For ISIS to be restored to its former “glory” – if that’s even possible – would take many years.
Probably the greatest proof that ISIS has been reduced to near non-existence is the terrorist attack in London in June 2017. ISIS claimed the three knife-wielding terrorists who killed seven people were its “soldiers.” Really? Assuming the claim were true, is that the best it has these days – sleeper cells with knives? Soon it will be deploying terrorists with peashooters.
I would speculate that the MOAB also ruined ISIS financially. Where else would a terrorist keep his money? In a tax-free retirement account? That’s not a very good investment for someone who has a good chance of expiring before retiring.
Josh Greenberger
Brooklyn, NY
Is Trump Abandoning Israel?
The leadership of Israel should be, not only shocked, but dismayed at the firing of General Mattis as Defense Secretary.
The disagreement between President Trump and General Mattis is profound and may mean the revival of the catastrophic policy of isolationism that the U.S. employed in the two decades prior to World War II. Will the U.S. soon disengage from Israel as well, leaving that nation weakened against Iran?
Already it is becoming clear from diplomatic leaks that President Trump has formulated a peace plan between Israel and the PA that would require substantial sacrifices on the part of Israel. Can we honestly consider Trump Israel’s friend?
All supporters of a safe and secure Israel should be concerned.
Nelson Marans
New York, NY
How Can Jews Vote Democrat?
It’s embarrassing when non-Jews perplexingly ask me why my people vote Democrat. They’re dumbfounded!
So, what’s the answer? Here are some suggestions: 1) Stockholm syndrome; 2) fear; 3) a need for love, which is linked to an inferiority complex; 4) cognitive dissonance; 5) Trump Derangement syndrome; 6) poor ability to forecast.
So many Jews need some major therapy – although it’s not clear how much help they will receive considering that their psychologist likely is a liberal, Jewish, bleeding-heart, tikkun olam, social justice warrior who will have the same affliction as them.
I’ve actually asked some psychologists and psychiatrists what they would do if a patient came to them who was an ardent Trump supporter. “I’d get rid of him!” is how one of them responded. Isn’t that a violation of their code of ethics? I guess ideology supersedes their obligation to help people.
Caren Besner
Boynton Beach, FL
Pogroms In Ukraine
Thank you for the article commemorating the 100th anniversary of the wave of pogroms in Ukraine.
I find it interesting that after World War II, Germany outlawed the display of swastikas or any other symbol of the Third Reich. In Ukraine, however, Bogdan Chmelnitzki – who in the 17th century led a pogrom that left over 100,000 Jews dead – is still a national hero.
The city of Proskurov is now named after Chmelnitzki and to this day Ukrainians bring flowers to his statues in cities all over the country.
Several of my family members suffered in Ukraine pogroms. In a 1905 pogrom in Korostyshev, the modest house of my then 18-year-old grandmother was burned down with everything the family owned. Her 33-year-old half-sister, Bayla Chaya – the mother of three young children – was murdered in a pogrom in the neighboring city of Zhitomir. Their first cousin, Mina Wexler, in her late 20s, also a mother, was killed in a pogrom in Chodorkov.
Yes, history repeats itself for us Jews. Hashem yinkom damam.
Pesach-Yonah Malevitz
Miami Beach, FL
