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letters

continued from page 5

Our history of tribal dissent is DNA-
based. Rarely do the Jewish people come
together unless their very existence is
threatened to initiate proactive affirma-
tive action. Backed into country corners
throughout the diaspora, adaptations
have been made to get through the day,
the year, the millennia.
The 20th century changed that. These
defensive strategies, strained by necessity
after necessity requiring constant usage
and belief in a better tomorrow, were for-
ever shattered by the Final Solution and
the almost complete annihilation of the
People of the Book. The remnant came
out of that hell as survivors to us, but to
the world, as a recreated formidable pres-
ence, demanding respect and shouting
“never again.”
For many, the world continued to
remain flat — used to trampling on Jewish
rights and bestowing tokens of tolerance
as good faith measures along the way.
Never again.
“If you build it, they will come” was
Herzl’s vision. If you proclaim, “I remem-
bered you, Jerusalem, and my tongue has
been freed to exclaim to the world that
you, Jerusalem, have, are and will contin-
ue to be the eternal capital of the Jewish
people,” then they will join in as propheti-
cally determined and acknowledge that
the “Lord God of Israel is One and His
Majesty rules over all of us.”

Gerald S. Kirzner, Ph.D.
Farmington Hills

Klein Wrong To Defend
Bannon, Gorka

In his letter to the editor (Dec. 14, page
5), Morton Klein, president of the Zionist
Organization of America (ZOA), ardently
defends President Trump’s former chief
White House strategist, Steve Bannon,

and Sebastion Gorka, who served as his
deputy assistant, as to why the ZOA invit-
ed them as special guests to the organiza-
tion’s recent gala.
In his strident defense, Mr. Klein sadly
ignored the anti-Semitic overtones of
Trump’s campaign, a campaign that
Bannon directed in the latter stages while
also “cherry picking” statements made
by the ADL. He quotes the ADL as stating
it knows of no anti-Semitic statements
made by Bannon, but Mr. Klein ignored
the following conclusion by the ADL:
“Nevertheless, Bannon essentially has
established himself as the chief curator
for the alt right. Under his stewardship,
Breitbart has emerged as the leading
source for the extreme views of a vocal
minority who peddle bigotry and promote
hate.”
The ADL has also expressed its concern
about Gorka’s history, demanding that he
disavow the “openly racist and anti-Semit-
ic hate groups he was linked to during
his time in Hungarian politics during the
mid-2000s” (Order of Vitez and Hungarian
Guard). Such a disavowal never came.
Bannon has been at the forefront of the
“fake news” issue and repeatedly finds
fault with any reporting that does not
favor his point of view. Trump himself
rarely, if ever, utters truthful or factual
statements. Why then would Mr. Klein
deem it necessary to defend his invited
guests so stridently? Neither has proven
himself a true friend of Israel other than
when it was most politically convenient
to do so.
In criticizing Berl Falbaum’s article on
the ZOA and its questionable alliances,
Mr. Klein elected to choose his “facts” so
carefully, he raised even more concerns
about the direction of the ZOA.

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Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari
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Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss
Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer
Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz,
David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz,
Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell

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The Horror Of War And
Promoting An Alternative

During Dr. Brook’s Veterans Day Brunch
Presentation Nov. 5 at Congregation
B’nai Moshe (Dec. 7, page 30), you could
hear a pin drop in the room as attend-
ees were caught up in the dramatic
events of the Yom Kippur War.
Many of us present had lived through
it and experienced the events through
the nightly news in 1973. Somehow, cer-
tain points were not appreciated then
by some of us.
The enormity of the loss of life
and limb on both sides was tragic.
Proportionately, for Israel’s population,
in a short period of time, more soldiers
were lost than the USA lost in the entire
length of the Vietnam War. That Israel
was truly in danger of being destroyed
was abundantly clear.
The support of the Nixon
Administration in providing a huge
transfer of various types of military
hardware was critical for Israel to turn
back the Arab onslaught. Moreover, the
support of the American Jewish commu-
nity in supplying ancillary items such
as socks and underwear was greatly
appreciated by Israeli soldiers who
had rushed to the battle in literally a
moment’s notice.
This was all necessary then, but it
is disconcerting to realize that the
situation in Israel is not much better
today. There are still armed camps sur-
rounding Israel with clearly malicious
intent. The need to maintain a superior
military at the present time goes with-
out question. However, this is not a
long-term solution. One need only visit
Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem to see the
problem. There one finds the stories of
young IDF members with varied talents

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and laudable goals whose lives were
snuffed out in their prime while defend-
ing the people of Israel.
It is time that more resources and
political will be devoted to counter the
descent to hatred and violence that
characterizes the demeanor of many
of Israel’s adversaries. The way these
animosities develop has been known
for years. It begins in childhood with
authoritarian parenting (corporal pun-
ishment and psychological abuse). The
fear and anger produced by such child-
rearing soon finds an outlet for expres-
sion in the surrounding militant culture.
Once groups (Jews, Christians, etc.)
are targeted, willing participants who
have internalized the false narratives
of the society are ready for battle. This
process of indoctrination, literally from
birth, needs to be countered.
The only hope for remediation is
centered on more humane authori-
tative parenting where discipline is
maintained by reasoning and other non-
threatening techniques. The modeling
of helping behaviors is also an impor-
tant character-developing initiative.
Additionally, narratives that demonize
particular groups must be debunked
and eventually eliminated. This
approach is outlined in a paper that ref-
erences works that have been known for
decades (Genocide: Plotting a Course to
Never Again. Neuropsychiatry (London)
(2016) 6(5), 190-192).
It is time to enhance efforts that have
real potential in the long run to produce
societies committed to helping behav-
iors and the non-violent resolution of
conflict.

Dr. Gerald H. Katzman
Farmington Hills

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