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Peace Talks Are An
Exercise In Futility
I am profoundly disappointed by "Time
To Talk?" about Alan Dershowitz (Jan.
9, page 18). It lacks basic facts about the
Palestinian conflict with Israel:
1.This conflict is religious, not nation-
alistic. Its roots are in the history of
Islamic relations with the Jews.
2. Hamas will never agree to peace
with Israel.
3. In 1926, Mandatory Palestine was
declared waqf (holy Muslim land) that
cannot be owned by infidels, Christians
and Jews.
4. To achieve peace, Palestinian lead-
ership has to prepare their people for
coexistence and eventually peace. There
is continuous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic
incitement and indoctrination of youth.
5. Taqyya means that any agreement
can be nixed if it is good for Islam. This
is what Hamas has been doing for years.
6. President Abbas declared many
times that Palestine will be free of Jews
(remember Judenrein?).
7. Palestinians have the support of
global Islam. No agreement between
Palestinians and Israel will be accepted
by Shiah or Sunni radicals.
8. The terrible treatment of Christians
in Muslim countries must be a warning
to Jews.
9. The possibility of a three-state solu-
tion is more realistic today: Egypt to
annex Gaza and Jordan the West Bank
10.The effort and compassion that
President Clinton had to resolve this
conflict dwarfs any other negotiators.
Fundamental changes have to occur in
Islam and Muslims before any new nego-
tiations start. This will not happen soon.
Solutions:
1.Jews must repel the tremendous
international pressure coming from the
radical left, Muslims and the radical
right.
2. Europe is swept by anti-Semitism
at an intensity not seen since 1938.
The radical left, such as the American
Studies Association resolution, saw all
of Israel as Palestinian land, not only the
settlements. We cannot allow the U.S. to
repeat the mistakes of Europe.
3. We have to understand that there is
no solution to the conflict. You need two
to tango. Other conflicts, such as Kashmir
and Formosa, remain unresolved.
4. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's
mission is an exercise in futility. The road
to hell is paved with good intentions.
5. Lastly, not only Israel needs to
be strong; the Jewish community in
America and worldwide also has to be
united and strong and believe that "Am
Israel Chai," the nation of Israel lives!
Isaac Barr, M.D.
Bloomfield Township
Parliamentarian Boosts
Israel In South Africa
We were both overwhelmed by the 275
people in the room who came to honor
StandWithUs-MI's accomplishments and
our efforts in the community.
The StandWithUs-MI Festival of
Lights celebration on Nov. 24 at Adat
Shalom Synagogue was organized by
committee chair Margot Gardner and
her team and hosted keynote speaker
Rev. Kenneth Meshoe of the South
African Parliament.
Rev. Meshoe is an outspoken cham-
pion of Israel in a parliament that is
decidedly anti-Israel. We were privileged
to have him in Detroit as one of his few
stops on a tour speaking to groups in the
U.S. and Canada.
We thank SWU-MI president Barbara
Moretsky and her board for honoring us
with these outstanding awards; we will
strive to be worthy
Andre Douville — Beacon of Light Award
Ed Kohl — Volunteer of the Year Award
1.1chainf To Production
Of Fiddler On The Roof
We attended Fiddler on the Roof at
Bloomfield Players Community Theater
last weekend. The production was
fantastic. The directing, choreography
and staging were very, very impressive!
Kudos to everyone!
1
Joel Bussell
West Bloomfield
Dyslexia Affects How
Symbols Are Interpreted
First of all, I wanted to let you know
how much I enjoyed reading the article
"The Dyslexia Song" (Jan. 9, page 3).
Great job, Caleb and Adin! However, I
think some clarification about dyslexia
is needed.
The statement reading "people often
see letters and words backwards" is
not accurate. I do understand that it is
a very common myth about dyslexia.
Individuals with dyslexia do not see dif-
ferently than we do. Dyslexia involves
impairment in the ability to interpret
symbols, and letters are just that —
symbols that are associated with sounds.
All children write letters (and num-
bers) backward at some point in their
development. This is normal. Individuals
with dyslexia often continue to write
symbols incorrectly, but they are not
seeing them differently than you or
me. Instead, they are not able to inter-
pret these symbols or commit them to
memory. This also has a direct impact
on their ability to read, of course.
Some individuals with dyslexia write
letters and words backward; some do
not. Some individuals without dyslexia
write letters and words backward; some
do not. All individuals with dyslexia
struggle with reading and writing sec-
ondary to impairments in symbol-based
learning. They do not see differently.
Dana Cohen, Ph.D., LP
Center for Human Development
Beaumont Children's Hospital
Sharon Would Be
Horrified With Gaza
I couldn't help wondering what Ariel
Sharon would have thought if he were
aware of the plight of Gaza and Israel
while he lay in a virtual death state for
the last eight years of his life ("The Lion
Of Israel," Jan. 16, page 1).
Not long before he fell into a coma,
never to arise, he addressed the 60th
anniversary of the United Nations. "I, as
someone whose path of life led him to be
a fighter and commander in all Israel's
wars, reach out today to our Palestinian
neighbors in a call for reconciliation and
compromise to end the bloody conflict
..." Sharon said.
Ariel, if you only knew.
Swept up in hope for a peaceful
solution, Sharon forced 9,000 Israelis
to evacuate their homes and unilater-
ally handed over the Gaza Strip to the
Palestinians. And what did he get for his
gift? Thousands of Hamas rockets that
continue through the day of his funeral
... children in Sderot and other Israeli
communities growing up traumatized by
missiles and terrorist attacks.
Had he not been stricken, Sharon
could have witnessed 13,000 Gaza
students in grades 10-12 participating
in one-week training camps taught by
members of Hamas' security forces on
weapons training and the "coming war
with Israel:' which the Hamas govern-
ment in Gaza just celebrated last week.
He could have heard the Hamas prime
minister commend graduates with, "This
is a generation which knows no fear. It
is the generation of the missile, the tun-
nel and the suicide operations." (Source:
"13,000 teens complete Hamas training
camps to emulate 'suicide martyrs:''
Times of Israel, Jan. 15.)
Had Sharon known, I believe he would
have deeply regretted taking land away
from Israelis and giving it carte blanche to
Palestinians (llamas), desperate to show
the world Israel wants peace with its
neighbors. If Ariel had miraculously woken
from his coma, he would have been hor-
rified at the constant barrage of rockets
ignited by a new generation of bloodthirsty
Palestinians trained to kill Jews in Israel.
I believe Sharon would have sadly
accepted the fate that peace with anti-
Semitic murderers is illusion; Israel's
survival means war and bloodshed.
Arnie Goldman
Farmington Hills
Entertainer Robin Beck
singing some "oldies but
I, goodies" with Lori Larsen to
herald in the New Year
I
To welcome in
2014, 80 JARC
11 guests and
volunteers
attended a
gala party
that included
reminiscing
about the past
year, confetti,
balloons,
horns,
refreshment
and musical
entertainment
by singer
Robin Beck.
Everyone
toasted the
New Year,
made their
resolutions,
and promised
to make the
coming year a
great one!
•
ort JARC Today!
Make your gift
at jarc.org
or 248.538.6611
I
January 23 • 2014
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