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Don't Automatically Blame
Parents Of Mass Killers
The naivete of Rabbi Tamara Kolton's
"real cure" of just "love our children;'
who, if "just nurtured" would not mur-
der other children was disheartening
("Sandy Hook Aftermath," Dec. 27, page
25). What a sad and mean attack on the
parents of such a killer.
I am quite sure that Rabbi Kolton has
not evaluated the Sandy Hook killer's
now-deceased mother nor the parents
of other evil or deranged young killers.
The solution to these terrible events is
far more complex than to "love our chil-
dren:' Do we know that the perpetrators
of these horrendous crimes were not
loved?
Gershon Weiner
West Bloomfield
Palestinians' Hate Speech
Belies Hope For Peace
What was the purpose of last week's JN
editorial, "Hasty Timing Damages Latest
Settlement Plan"? It gives credibility to
the outrage from numerous European
countries about Israel's decision to build
homes in Jerusalem. Where was the
outrage from the "international com-
munity" about the Palestinians' request
for observer state status when the P.A.'s
charter, public rhetoric, and even the
badge on the P.A. police uniforms call
for the destruction of the State of Israel?
The P.A.'s actions at the U.N., to alter
its status, is a direct violation of the
international Oslo Accords that it signed
that are binding, international agree-
ments requiring it to only seek status
changes through direct negotiations
with Israel. Where is the outrage over
the P.A.'s abrogation of its written, inter-
national agreements? Can the P.A. be
expected to uphold future agreements
that its leaders sign?
Israel gave back Gaza on its own, with
nothing promised in return. And then
the world said little about the barrage of
rockets fired into Israeli civilian centers,
other than to condemn Israel for using
its justifiable military actions to protect
its citizens.
It matters not when Israel would have
announced home building on land that
all rational parties know will end up on
the Israel side of a two-state solution
and that is needed for natural popula-
tion growth. A real two-state solution
can only happen when Palestinians start
teaching their children, and populace,
about peace instead of hatred, bigotry
and martyrdom.
At the 2011 U.N. Conference and
Durban III, Alan Dershowitz said "...
the U.N. has for [more than] 40 years
rewarded Palestinian terrorism by
enhancing the status of Palestine while
Arafat and Hamas were openly advocat-
ing and implementing the murder of
Jewish civilians as a matter of policy."
It's important to remember that prior
to 1967 the Palestinians were never
interested in a state of their own. Today,
they speak openly about wanting all of
Israel to be theirs. Israelis are demon-
ized while the world is silent about
the real atrocities being committed by
Hamas. Criticizing the timing of Israel's
home building would be OK if all par-
ties were expected to play by the same
rules. The Detroit Jewish News needs
to focus on the real issues: Palestinian
intransigence, vicious anti-Semitic
hatred, refusal to directly negotiate with
Israel, as well as the world's continual
toleration of the Palestinians' appalling
acts. The "bullies" need to be challenged.
Eugene Greenstein, president
Zionist Organization of America
Michigan Region
J Street Should Focus
Efforts On Palestinians
J Street has a very strange way of demon-
strating its support for Israel. It's always
part of the anti-Israel pile-on when Israel
dares defend itself or takes necessary
steps for its own national interest.
This time, the condemnation is due
to Israel's planned E-1 housing develop-
ment. As always, J Street is marching
in lock step with the worldwide legion
of Israel haters who, ignoring history,
declare that no matter what, it's Israel's
fault.
To actually help bring peace to the
Middle East, J Street should declare
itself a pro-Palestinian, pro-peace
organization and start demanding that
the Palestinians return to their long-
neglected seat at the negotiating table.
They could demand that Hamas and the
P.A. accept Israel, period.
They could condemn the Palestinians'
insistence on a one-state solution that
has no place for Jews. They could lobby
the U.N. and other Western donors
(who obviously do not have Israel's best
interests at heart) to stop funding the
Palestinians until they give up all incite-
ment and violence and agree to live in
peace with a Jewish state.
They could demand that llamas stop
firing rockets into Israel. Oh wait, Israel
put a (temporary) stop to that with
Pillar of Cloud. In other words, Israeli
actions, contrary to J Street policy,
have given Israel a respite from Hamas
attacks.
We know that Israel has already made
painful, almost suicidal concessions
toward peace with no acknowledge-
ment from J Street or other "friends" of
Israel who regularly demand more from
Israel while expecting nothing from the
Palestinians. J Street must answer one
question: "What steps has Palestinian
leadership ever taken toward peace?"
The problem with J Street, no matter
how much they would deny it, is that
they put their petty politics ahead of the
survival of Israel and of the Jewish peo-
ple. A conservative Israeli government
galls J Street more than Israelis being
the victims of constant, unprovoked ter-
rorist attacks. That's inexcusable.
Marie Radiquet and Denise
Bennett at the Maple Theatre
Marc
Harry Onickel
Ferndale
Washington Post Debunks
Arguments Against Israel
In the Jan. 3 JN, the letter to the edi-
tor "U.S. Jews May Not Agree With
Israel's Right Wing" (page 5) and the
opinion piece "Why I Joined J Street"
(page 22) use information and percep-
tions that are alien to those who are
deeply involved in the Palestinian con-
flict with Israel.
Granted, what happens in Israel is in
the heart of American Jewry, but it has
to cross the mind, too.
For an unbiased opinion, a Jan. 1 edi-
torial in the Washington Post speaks vol-
umes. In the editorial, "Rash Rhetoric;
Harmful Words From All Sides On
Proposed Israeli Settlements:' the Post
noted that:
• "It is not true that the 'settlements'
are the principal obstacle to a peace
deal.
• "It is also mistaken to believe that
further Israeli construction will make a
Palestinian state impossible.
• "Netanyahu's government, like
several before it, has limited building
almost entirely to areas that both sides
expect Israel to annex through territo-
rial swaps in an eventual settlement"
and that "the Jerusalem neighborhoods
where new construction was announced
last month were conceded to Israel by
Palestinian negotiators in 2008.
• "The vast majority of the nearly
500,000 Jewish citizens in Jerusalem
and the West Bank live in areas close to
Israel's 1967 borders" and "more than
80 percent of them could be included
in Israel if the country annexed just
more than 4 percent of the West Bank
— less than the 5 percent proposed by
President Bill Clinton 12 years ago.
• Recent E-1 "zoning approval is
hardly the 'almost fatal blow' to a two-
When new owners
of the Maple
Theatre, Jon and
Lauren Goldstein,
donated tickets for
a "movie night"
as a silent auction
prize, winners
Stanley Finsilver,
Albert Ludwig and
Richard Ludwig,
decided to donate
the tickets to
I
JARC and Kadima.
An enthusiastic
audience enjoyed
the delightful film
HUGO, snacked on
buttery popcorn
and shared a fun
night out!
Support JARC
lip Today!
Make your gift at
jarc.org or
248.538.6611
1776640
January 10 • 2013
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