Remembrance Day

Once again, we watched the ceremonies on our television screens and mourned and grieved over those who lost their lives in defense of our country, and others who were victims of random Arab terror (“Nation mourns its fallen,” May 1). And sad as all this was, we were aware that this was exactly what we had done last year and what will be happening again next year, with the only difference being fresh names added to that grim list.

As much as the day of remembrance is our day, it is also the Arabs’ day to rejoice at the suffering they have succeeded to bring upon the Jews. And so it shall be, year after year, until the State of Israel can exact a price on its enemy that is so heavy and so painful, that maybe, just maybe, it will not be worth their while to set out to extinguish Jewish lives whenever the whim takes them. DAVID S. ADDLEMAN

Mevaseret Zion

The greatest honor to those who sacrificed their lives for Israel is to secure that for which they did so.

Of course, this applies to the whole country. But at this point in time, when the world’s covetous gaze once again falls on Jerusalem (“Israel, Palestinians battle for votes at UNESCO,” May 1), one small gesture to the fallen – and to the world – could be the placing of an IDF unit permanently on the Mount of Olives, a Jewish cemetery in continuous use for 3,000 years.

This location in east Jerusalem has continually been vandalized by those who dispute Jewish sovereignty even over the graves of our ancestors – including that of the grandfather of Israel’s current prime minister, who may, like the rest of us, soon need UNESCO permission to visit.

Secure the cemetery for visitors, demonstrate sovereignty, honor the fallen. RAFI BEZALEL Jerusalem