Letters

Be Careful Who You Put in the 'Pro-Israel' Camp

The JTA article "The Jewish Takeaway from Iowa" (Online, Jan. 4: The Jewish Takeaway From Iowa) unhelpfully propagates the common fallacy that American politicians competing to take hard-line positions on the Jewish state are in fact pro-Israel.

Rick Santorum, lauded in the article for his "strongly pro-Israel record," said recently, "All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis." Such a statement can only be born either from monumental ignorance of the basic facts of Israeli reality or from a desire to see a one-state solution for all the people living west of the Jordan River.

His unrestrained enthusiasm for a military attack on Iran, which numerous members of Israel's security and political establishment have said would be disastrous for Israel, ought to give pause as well to anyone who thinks that Santorum truly wishes for or knows what's best for Israel.

Likewise, Newt Gingrich's rejectionism as expressed by his statement that the Palestinians are an "invented" people helps no one, least of all Israel.

A negotiated settlement with the Palestinians remains the only viable path forward for the democratic Jewish state we love. As a J Street member, I believe that American politicians who want to claim the "pro-Israel" mantle need to openly and honestly say as much, and the Jewish community needs to hold them to that standard.

Kenan Jaffe
Philadelphia

Letter Writer's Rant Just Doesn't Fit the Facts

Steve Heitner's letter that rants against the president ("Obama's Bark Seems Lot Worse Than His Bite," Jan. 19) had zero basis in truth.

Rehearsing a staple of the GOP spin-machine, Mr. Heitner falsely claims that President Barack Obama "has often apologized to foreign countries, especially Iran, for policies formulated 60 years ago, continually extending a hand of friendship, only to have it slapped away." As documented last year by Washington Post "fact-checker" Glenn Kessler (Feb. 22), there never occurred any such thing as an "Obama apology tour":

"The claim that Obama repeatedly has apologized for the United States is not borne out by the facts, especially if his full quotes are viewed in context.

"Obama often was trying to draw a rhetorical distinction between his policies and that of President George Bush, a common practice when the presidency changes parties.

"The shift in policies, in fact, might have been more dramatic from Bill Clinton to Bush than from Bush to Obama, given how Obama has largely maintained Bush's approach to fighting terrorism.

"In other cases, Obama's quotes have been selectively trimmed for political purposes. Republicans may certainly disagree with Obama's handling of foreign policy or particular policies he has pursued, but they should not invent a storyline that does not appear to exist."

If Mr. Heitner is Jewish, he needs to read up on what Judaism has to say about engaging in hotzaat shem ra ("defamation") before sounding off in a publication such as the Jewish Exponent.

Steve Weissman
Narberth

It's Not Husbands Only Who Victimize 'Agunot'

The real victimizers of chained women ("agunot") are not their vindictive husbands (City & Suburb: "Local Support Grows for 'Chained' Woman," Jan. 5). Those cruel and misguided men are only taking advantage of an archaic and misogynistic system maintained by today's Orthodox religious establishment.

Unfortunately, today's so-called Torah authorities seem unable -- or perhaps are unwilling -- to summon the courage and creativity our ancient sages regularly demonstrated in applying Jewish law and recognize that the discriminatory rules governing the giving of a get have outlived their usefulness.

If our sages were able to ban polygamy, a practice clearly sanctioned by the Torah, surely today's religious leaders can find a way of simply and permanently eliminating any possibility of extortion from the get process. All that's lacking is the will.

Charles Smolover
Wynnewood