Letters to the Editor

I want to correct an error in the ad placed by the RJC [Republican Jewish Coalition] and NWC [National Women’s Committee of the RJC] in which they state: “Barbara Boxer remained silent as the Obama administration pressured Israel …” (Oct. 8).

It’s very comfortable for Arthur Stern and Sanford Weiner, sitting in cozy armchairs in Beverly Hills, to have a dream that Hamas and Hezbollah are for “peace now” (“Ariel’s Status,” Oct. 1). I am suggesting they take a map of Israel and measure the distance from Ariel to Tel Aviv. I am sure that Hamas already has plans to launch katyusha rockets on Tel Aviv from that area. Liberals and especially liberal media created a global campaign to delegitimize and demonize Israel.

I completely disagree with Rabbi Richard Levy in his comments saying that politics should be allowed to be preached from the pulpit (“Panel on Politics From the Pulpit,” Sept. 24). The pulpit is no place for some rabbi to force his or her political beliefs on the congregation, unless he or she chooses to allow those with dissenting views to preach theirs. Why should a rabbi choose to make some of his or her congregation uncomfortable while spouting their political ideas? If I want political views, I’ll go to political meetings, where I will be free to express my political thoughts.

I was impressed with cartoonist Steve Greenberg’s capacity for forgiveness in his eulogistic cartoon for Paul Conrad (Sept. 14). Personally, I find it hard to forget that Conrad drew one of the most anti-Semitic (NOT anti-Israel) cartoons ever to appear in an American newspaper.

Given that Christians and Jews are expected to serve on the board of Park51, which will be welcoming to people of all faiths; given also that among the center’s most fervent supporters are its potential Christian neighbors, we are at a loss to understand why support for Park51 would be read as a sign of “hostility” to Christianity or any other religion (“A Question for ‘Progressive’ Jews Who Support the Ground Zero Mosque,” Sept. 10). To the contrary, we are not motivated by hostility, but by loyalty. We are loyal to the American principles of mutual respect and religious freedom. As Jews, we are certainly concerned when those principles come under attack as we believe they have, because of the anti-Muslim hatred inflamed by this controversy.

Seventy percent of Americans do not want this grotesque monument to Islamic supremacism built where it would overshadow that hallowed ground, that stricken field, that graveyard of our murdered countrymen who were slaughtered one awful September morning (“The Islamic Center,” Aug. 6). If they must build it, let them build it elsewhere and without trying to insult our intelligence by trying to fool us into thinking that it is an act of contrition symbolizing universal outreach and the brotherhood of man, two concepts which are as alien to them as their undiminished ambition of a global caliphate, under the gruesome apparatus of Sharia law, is to the rest of us.

In his column on the Ground Zero mosque (“The Islamic Center,” Aug. 6), Rob Eshman leaves out one important point. The mosque is a triumphal monument to the 19 martyrs who gave up their lives while hijacking the aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. That is the way it will be presented to Muslims world wide if we permit it to be constructed. It will be used as a recruiting tool to encourage more Muslim youth to join the religious war being waged against us. It will undo one of our accomplishments in Iraq, and that is the killing of [at a minimum] 35,000 jihadists who would otherwise be waging war against us and all other non-Muslims all over the world.

The Motion Picture Home (“Living in Limbo,” Aug. 20) is just that: a home where people planned and hoped to live out their later years without the worry and doubt they are facing now. [Among them are] creative people and their families who gave so much to the world with their various crafts and talents, bringing entertainment to millions and many generations around the world. Only here amid the drama of Tinseltown itself could there be so much sadness, loss and tragedy for the giving community of so many artists. If ever a happy ending was called for and needed, now would be the time for it to happen. Come on Hollywood, do your magic; they certainly did it for all of us, the grateful audience. This is one scene that shouldn’t fade to black and be forgotten. This home matters too much and deserves that cavalry’s one last ride for this very important rescue when it most matters. There is always a way to get that happy ending!

Professor Firestone (“Fellow Demons,” Aug. 6) diligently attempts to present Jewish Islamophobia as similarly problematic and morally equivalent to Islamic anti-Semitism. He correctly admonishes Jews to remember that our wisdom teaches that “all humanity is created in the image of God.” Unfortunately, what he conveniently omits is what he teaches on pages 80-81 of his own book, “An Introduction to Islam for Jews”: that, unlike Jewish and Christian teachings, “Nowhere does the Qur’an suggest humanity was created ‘in the image of God,’ ” as is taught in Genesis. Perhaps this very fact from his own book presents a clearer explanation of why Jews and Christians have more to fear from Islam than the other way around.