Cycle of conflict

Reader James Adler finishes off his letter (“Cycle of conflict,” May 8) by saying we should be hurt by the UNESCO vote to deny the fact of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, while also doing some moral-equivalency gymnastics to compare it to securing said sovereignty over “east” Jerusalem.

I’m really not sure why Mr. Adler thinks anyone should be hurt or could be hurt by the UNESCO vote other than the UN itself.

I, as an Israeli living in Jerusalem, couldn’t care less what the UN has to say regarding this or any other subject anywhere in the world. I suspect plenty of Israelis also couldn’t care less. The reason is precisely because of things like this vote.

With such votes, the UN does nothing but cement its own irrelevance and demonstrate just how out of touch with facts and reality it is. I don’t see how that harms Israel, and I’m not sure why I should care if the UN gets harmed.

If some stranger came up to Mr. Adler on the street and told him: “I disavow that you had a mother; you were clearly never born,” would he be hurt by such a statement? Perhaps he would feel sorry for a person who clearly needs professional intervention.

JAMES ESTRIN Jerusalem

Reader James Adler continues to show a startling ignorance when it comes to Israel, the Palestinians and the recent UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem.

He writes: “My guess is that the vote wasn’t motivated by any government seriously believing in it.” He wonders whether if Israel had “worked on” the 2002 Arab peace plan or the “practical and detailed Geneva process” (whatever he takes that to mean), the UNESCO vote would have even happened. “Does anyone think some UN members would hurt Israel in this way without Israel having hurt others in Jerusalem?”

Really, Mr. Adler? Wake up and smell the antisemitism! Or are you telling us that Israel brought this resolution upon itself?

Does he honestly believe that the sponsors of the resolution – Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, all models of democracy – or some of those who voted for it, such as Iran, Pakistan and Chad, acted only “as a frustrated reaction to current politics”? Does the idea ever come to mind that their motivation and intent was to once again attempt to delegitimize Israel and undermine its historical right to its capital city?

My guess is that Mr. Adler has never visited Israel or, if he has, it has not been for a long, long time. I challenge him to visit the post-1967 neighborhoods and suburbs of modern Jerusalem and still call them “settlements.”

Just say the word, Mr. Adler, and I’ll meet you at the airport.

GERALD FLANZBAUM

Hadera