Letters to the editor

By Community

article created on: 2008-11-01T00:00:00

No sense of Jewish history

To the editor:

In his article “Speaking of unspeakables,” (Jewish Review, Oct. 15) Gerson Robboy argues Israel should be a single secular (i.e. non-Jewish) state and suggests that many other Jews feel likewise.

He and his followers apparently have no sense of Jewish history, and I suggest they learn some.

If the world’s one Jewish state is dismantled, as they propose, where would the safe haven for the Jews be the next time a world leader vows their eradication?

Are Robboy and his followers not aware of the futile efforts made by Jews to escape Europe during the Second World War?
How many of our people would have been saved if a Jewish state existed then?

While Robboy and his followers may attempt to be progressive and politically correct, I fear what they propose would undermine Jews’ safety everywhere.

The tiny Jewish state of Israel is an essential part of our future survival and safety.

Robboy and his friends should learn the lessons of our history.

Gideon Caron
Portland

In reference to Gerson Robboy’s “In my opinion” article in the Oct. 15 Jewish Review in which he expressed his support for a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute:

Ignore the newspapers in the Palestinian territories rife with depictions of Jews as monkeys and pigs.

Ignore the desecration of Joseph’s tomb—and other sites sacred to Jews—in areas under Palestinian control.

Support a culture that believes exploding children’s bodies is a legitimate form of resistance.

Ignore the murders of Jews from Argentina to Kenya.

Ignore the rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the 40,000 Hezbollah missiles on Israel’s northern border, and the hundreds of rockets launched from Gaza at Sderot.

Ignore the widespread Jew hatred in the Arab media that is government sponsored and that existed prior to 1967.

Ignore the Muslim-on-Muslim violence in Iraq and pretend it will be different in Israel.

Oh, that’s right, it’s already like that in Gaza with Muslims killing each other in hospitals and mosques.

Ignore all that, and then you can believe that Jews and Palestinians can live peacefully in one state.

Linda Cohn
Portland

We should agree
with our own annihilation?

To the editor:

With regard to the article by Gerson Robboy (“Speaking of unspeakables,” Jewish Review, Oct. 15) it never ceases to amaze me how the secular Jew cannot fathom the determination of much of the Arab/Islamic community to destroy all that is Israel.

The Muslim—radical or otherwise—could care less about what any Jew thinks.

The proxy armies massing weaponry on Israel’s northern and southern borders are doing so for one reason only, to kill the Jew.

These countries are positioning these forces not for the purpose of war but for the purpose of “wiping the Jew off the map,” to paraphrase the president of Iran.

Many of the Muslims I have spoken to over the years hate the Jew. When I ask why, they say the land belongs to them (Muslims), not to Israel.

The notion that Palestine is a real place and that Palestinians are a unique people flies in the face of historical fact. Just under 2,000 years ago Palestine was created specifically to wash the memory of Israel from the land. This attempt is being made again today.

How dare Mr. Robboy suggest that Jewish people should agree with their own annihilation? It is and has always been calamitous for Israel that this sort of Jewish reasoning continues to exist.

I refuse to think for a moment that any Jewish patriot would agree with Mr. Robboy.

Jeff Morton
Vancouver, Wash.

Kosher slaughter story touching


To the editor:

I was very touched by Sue Fishkoff’s article “Activists slaughter their own kosher meat” in the Oct. 15 Jewish Review.

As a vegetarian and animal rights activist it was a difficult article to read. However I was impressed by the care and sensitivity in which the topic of animal slaughter was handled.

By and large, the general public gives little thought to the life and death of the animals they eat. If people are to eat meat, it seems only right that they should be “brave” enough to understand how animals are raised and killed.

Sadly most animals raised for food production in this country suffer terrible deaths in ghastly slaughter houses.

While I do not condone eating meat, I applaud anyone who cares enough to be responsible for making sure the animals they eat lead decent lives and that the slaughter process is as humane as possible.

One last note of importance: Since animals have genders, it is important to refer to them as he, she or they.

In describing the goat slaughter Ms Fishkoff refers to the goat as an “it.” This is just one more way humans like to distance themselves from the reality that animals are individuals and not simply things.

How different Ms Fishkoff’s sentence would have read if it had said “Two people hold the goats legs, one of them stroking her flank to calm her, while a third holds her head backward with her neck stretched out.”

Though this makes it emotionally harder to read, this is something we must do to honor the individual who has been sacrificed.

Michal A. Kessler


Appalled over political rally

To the editor:

It is appalling to me that at recent McCain-Palin rallies Gov.

Sarah Palin stood by and said nothing to stop her supporters from shouting threats of violence against Sen. Barak Obama.

Raucous and insistent cries of “terrorist” and “kill him” and racial insults were heard from the audience.

Palin had the microphone and did not call for security or rebuke the shouters.

Where have we seen this before?

Joan G.
Portland

Ed. Note: The letter writer asked not to be identified.