The CJN presents a wider view
I would like to congratulate The CJN on some of its recent articles that present broader, more nuanced perspectives on Israeli politics, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral in South Africa, and the rise of vigilantism by Jewish settler groups in the West Bank.
I was dismayed to see some readers react negatively. One of the many wonderful things about Israel is that it permits voices from across the political spectrum, including those critical of the government and its policies. This is the bedrock of any healthy democracy. It is ironic that many Diaspora Jews are less willing than Israelis themselves to tolerate diverging views.
Daniel Douek
Montreal
Day’s true colours
Notwithstanding former federal Conservative cabinet minister Stockwell Day’s moving testimonial about the two boys whose fathers were killed in a terrorist attack (“A Canadian triumph over terror,”The CJN, Feb. 13), Day’s credentials listed at the end of the article are incomplete.
Day sits on the board of directors of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), an affiliation surprisingly not enunciated by Day in the article.
In his capacity as a board member, Day has represented the Jewish community at official events and contributes to the governance of CIJA, Canada’s self- appointed group purporting to speak for the Jewish community.
Day and other board members who are not Jewish, constitute 15 per cent of CIJA’s board of director membership, raising serious questions as to the authenticity of CIJA as a Jewish organization. Even Independent Jewish Voices, anathematic to CIJA, is at least a bona fide Jewish organization.
Philip B. Berger
Toronto
Harper’s visit to Israel
On reading the scholarly but misguided article about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trip to the State of Israel (“Harper has made Israel a wedge issue,” The CJN, Feb. 13), it is easy to see why Adam Goldenberg is a former speech writer for the Liberal Party.
If the purpose of Harper’s significant visit was merely to garner the Jewish vote for his re-election, he would have been much wiser to have sought the attention and approval of the Arab/Muslim vote since there are vastly more Muslims in Canada, and worldwide, than there are Jews.
I wholeheartedly believe that our prime minister has to be a man of courage and principled conviction to state Israel’s dire position in his speech in the Knesset and thus to a worldwide audience.
Israel has tried to exchange land for peace, only to find ferocious response to its efforts – witness the disaster in Gaza. It is time that the Israelis are realistic and not swayed by wishful thinking.
No peace or two-state solution can be even contemplated until Palestinians can agree on one state being theirs and the other belonging to the Jewish People. This is a fundamental beginning to any sort of negotiation.
Phyllis Sugar
Toronto
No Palestinian state on Jewish land
The problem is not that a Palestinian state will or will not recognize Israel as Jewish. The problem is that so many are willing to recognize a Palestinian state on Jewish land (“Recognizing Israel as Jewish is part of ending conflict,” The CJN, Feb. 20).
First, Israel’s historical and legal claims to the disputed territories are being totally ignored.
Second, a state that promises to cleanse their new country of Jews even as they cleanse it of Christians, both crimes against humanity, should never be allowed the right of birth.
Third, when the words and charters of the current Palestinian governments pledge to destroy Israel and its people while their imams justify it theologically, those governments should all be banished from the civilized world.
It is a tragedy that we are willing to hand over land that is ours to enemies who want us dead while we worry about how magnanimous they will be in granting us the right to be Jewish.
Steven Scheffer
Burlington, Ont.