Bemoans transition
I suppose they come in all shapes and sizes. And here we have another Jew in America who has no conception of Middle East politics (“From pro-AIPAC to protester” (Comment & Features, March 30).
Jesse Rabinowitz, who once loved Shabbat, youth programs, Israel and AIPAC, now has become a protester against Israel. Why? Because 1) a ZOA chapter wanted to supply weapons to threatened Jews in Judea and Samaria; 2) he read reports of civilian casualties in Gaza; 3) American Jewish friends of his refused to pray for Palestinian civilians; and 4) Jews with whom he prays, studies Torah and eats Shabbat meals called him Hitler and a self-hating, despicable Jew (though what the latter two have to do with Israel is moot).
Let me remind Mr. Rabinowitz that checkpoints were set up so that Arab terrorists could not blow up Jewish men, women and children, which was and is their wont, and that it does not take hours, but a few minutes to cross them. The loss of innocent lives in a war is a foregone conclusion, but Israel’s percentage is far lower than in the two world wars and in wars fought around the globe. If Hamas had not fired thousands of rockets into our civilian centers, there would have been no war and no civilian deaths.
An illegal, unjust and immoral occupation? Not only is the whole of what was once Palestine our God-given right, this was acknowledged at San Remo, then accepted by the League of Nations and ratified by the United Nations, meaning the mandate for Palestine is still in force under international law and that we are not an occupying power. So much for unjust and illegal.
Where does Mr. Rabinowitz see the morality in Palestinians refusing to accept a Jewish state when Israel is prepared to give up land to permit the so-called Palestinians Arabs their own state? Not only do they insist it be free of Jews (talk of apartheid!), they see the whole of Israel as occupied land and wish to drive every Israeli into the sea and dismantle the Jewish state.
This one-sided view of things because the writer’s feelings were hurt seems to warrant a more thorough study of the history of the beginnings of the State of Israel, which surprisingly is not taught correctly even in our own schools, and should be rectified. EDMUND JONAH Rishon Lezion