Letters to the editor February 3
The propaganda of ‘fake news’
The Chronicle’s Opinion page letter “Palestinian territory — another view” (Jan. 20) relates the danger the State of Israel has been subjected to by both world governments and the biased U.N. International law written by whom? The Balfour Declaration and carving apart of a tribal Middle East. The Security Council Resolution 2334, stab in the back, adopted Dec. 23, 2016. These mean nothing in the reality of the only historical homeland given by G-d, to the Children of Israel. The only real estate transaction whose exact borders are mentioned in the Bible.
Why not erase all books of religion including Buddhist texts, the New Testament and the Quran? Declare Beijing as the capital of Russia, Mecca the capital of India. Let international law and man-made edicts dictate history and see where that will get us.
The ancestors of many enlightened Jews, who so easily chastise Israel, were persecuted and martyred for their beliefs. Let us hope that those who incite against the nation of Israel be blessed with an epiphany to see the truth rather than the indoctrination and propaganda of “fake news.”
Hope is worthless unless it is based on emet, truth.
Rosie Wayne
Pittsburgh
Thank you, Congressman Doyle
Congressman Mike Doyle’s vote against House Resolution 11 deserves praise from all Pennsylvanians. The resolution contained glaring inaccuracies about United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which the Obama administration abstained from in the Security Council in late December. The abstention — which allowed the resolution to pass — demonstrated both the United States’ rejection of the anti-Israel bias in the U.N. and its abiding commitment to Israel’s future and security.
UNSCR 2334 echoed the international consensus that a two-state solution is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people. The resolution strongly condemned actions on both sides that put that future at risk, including terrorism, incitement and settlement expansion.
Leading members of Israel’s security establishment have long recognized the threat that these issues – including settlement expansion — pose to Israel’s future. They know that in the absence of a two-state solution, Israel could be forced to choose between its Jewish and democratic character. True friends of Israel recognize that Israel must never face that choice.
Sadly, House Resolution 11 rejected this nuanced approach to Israeli-Palestinian peace. That is why I was pleased that Doyle supported an alternative, House Resolution 23, which expressed opposition to one-sided U.N. Security Council resolutions and imposed solutions without House Resolution 11’s mischaracterizations. Settlements, incitement and terrorism all constitute obstacles to peace. Doyle, in making clear that he opposes all three and champions a negotiated two-state solution, demonstrated that he truly understands what it means to be pro-Israel.
Mark Fichman
Squirrel Hill
Adding insult to injury
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting Syrian refugees from entering the United States and temporarily banning immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries. Trump also indicated that asylum preference would be given to Christian refugees over Muslim refugees. At best, this executive order is nothing more than a blanket ban on Muslims in an attempt to protect our American “freedom.” At worst, it is a stark message that Americans place value on human life according to religion, race, and national origin.
To add insult to injury, Trump signed this executive order on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day created by the United Nations to honor the victims of the Nazi era and to help prevent future genocides. Of the countless atrocities that led to and facilitated the mass murder of 6 million Jews, one of the most regrettable is the United States’ unwillingness to accept Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi rule. Citizens and politicians alike used different excuses for barring those seeking refuge, including the fear that Jews were Nazi spies and that they were in some way at fault for the tragedy that befell them. Our closed borders had a direct impact on how many innocent victims died during the Holocaust.
We simply cannot let this tragedy happen again; we must stand with our oppressed brothers and sisters and let our elected officials know that this ban is truly un-American. Without action, we will all have blood on our hands.
Beth Hackney
Carnegie, Pa.
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