=jplt1203

File of Letters drafted for Letters-to-the-Editor of the Jerusalem
Post et. al.; this file closed 3 Dec '03

FROM:
Steve Amdur
Mevo Modi'in
73122 (D.N. HaMerkaz)
Israel
sa73122a@yahoo.com

Some of these are dug up from old files; others are ca. 28 Nov. --
3 Dec. '03.       
Some are more nearly attempted mini-essay's in political
philosophy, than publication-styled letters-to-the-editor.

OK to use any of this material, in whole or part, without
attribution nor further communication. 
Although in some contexts, attribution of the few philosophic
notes would be appropriate.

/ sa
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&&& OLD LETTERS
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OLD, SENT FROM sa73122@fastmail.fm

Sent JP 22 Oct '03

AND MAYBE A RELIEF PITCHER

How about we trade Yosi Beillin for peace.

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Sent JP 21 Oct '03

SYRIA

Why should Israel fight what for George Bush, Jr., would be just
another fantasy war.

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[repeated from =sajp1128 ]
[sentdate & head added here:]

Sent ij@jpost.com  20 Oct '03 

BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF WARFARE
       
The 'Palestinian' terrorist campaign against Jerusalem is only
ostensibly territorial.   It is an attempt to debase and desecrate
the cultural/spiritual focus and 'center' of the Jewish people.
         
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Sent JP 20 Oct '03

AN OVERVIEW OF MEDIA BIAS

The foreign press holds Israel, not to a double standard, but to a
utopian standard.

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Sent JP 16 Oct '03

PROFESSIONAL INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
Ref:  
WSP/JP = 
'Excerpt from Wall Street Journal, included in Jerusalem Post'
16 Oct '03 

Guy Chazan misleadingly terms the PLO leader 'veteran resistance
fighters' who 'return[ed] from exile.  They're not quite that.
[ADD:  They're professional international terrorists. ]

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[Correction of =sajp1128 sendate:  

Sentdate is JP 15 Oct '03 
Suggested headline was:  'PIE IN THE SKY'

Text:
Netanyahu seems to have fallen for Ronald Regan's "voodoo
economics".
"A rising tide lifts all boats" -- except those stuck in the mud.

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Sent JP 12 Oct '03

"Israel has the right to exist (!) behind secure borders."
The Jordan River is a moderately secure border.
The 1948 Armistice lines are neither a border nor secure.

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Sent JP 8 Oct 

Why can't Israel cut off funding to 'Palestinian' terrorist
groups.

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###   NOV. 28 '03-- 3 DEC '03
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REB MEIR WITH A DASH OF AESOP

Re:  JP 28 Nov '03 (Glick)

Netanyahu is a silver-tongued Dumbo.
When a fox tells you he has found the goose that lays golden eggs,
lock up the chickens.
                             
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Ref:  Siegel, JP 28 Nov '03

How can the Department of Agriculture over-rule the Department of
Health.  The health of Israel's agro-business is evidently worth
more than the health of its people.  Consumers are cheaper to
replace than fishponds.

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[A longer version of the preceeding ]

Re:  JP 28 Nov '03 (Siegel)

How can the Department of Agriculture over-rule the Health
Ministry.  The health of Israel's agro-business is evidently worth
more than the health of its people.  Consumers are cheaper to
replace than fishponds.

Judy Siegel states that "although the dye had been in legal use
for dozens of years, it was banned by the Health Ministry since
April following similar moves in the US and Europe -- even though
no link between it and human cancers has ever been found."    

That sounds like methodologic nonsense; simplistic reductionism;
"double-talk".
The causation of carcinogenesis, whether triggered by radiation or
by ingested toxins, is statistic, not linear.  (The same holds,
for example,  for being killed by a bullet in a distant infantry
attack; death is never certain, but it only takes one; there is no
absolutely safe threshhold.)                                  

And to say that "no link ... has ever been found" between a
suspected carcinogen and human cancers, is, in general, stale
sophistry.  Inference from short-term high-dosage laboratory
animal experiments to likely future human epidemology is accepted
scientific procedure; inference is not determinative, but it is
reasonable.

Judy Siegel also reports that a representative of the Agriculture
Ministry  "noted that short-term eating of fish with residues of
the chemical will not cause any harm."  Again: as with  exposure
to any potentially (statistically) lethal or even harmful
situation, that may be likely for any individual, but it is
unlikely for each and every member of an entire group.


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30 November '03

To the Editor:

Ref:  Newsweek, 1 Dec '03  : Ami Ayalon; excerpts by Newsweek from
an Interview with Josh Hammer.

Ami Ayalon is quoted as saying:
"In the 9 months before the intifada only one Israeli was killed
as a result of terror.  It did not happen because the Shin Bet was
better ...The main reason was the hope in the Palestinian street."

     In short, Ayalon as quoted here argues that Palestinian
terrorism is caused (or at least predominantly caused) by an
attitude of hopelessness amongst lower-class Palestinians. 

    This is an interesting theory.  If factually correct, it has
important and rather clear implications.  

     The general implication is that the way to reduce terrorism
is to restore an attitude of help to the lowest socio-economic
segment of the Palestinian people.  Specific implications are not
stated. 
 
     On the political side, specific implications would include
clear 'gestures' -- changes in Israeli policy, at least
tentatively -- of accommodation with professed Palestinian desire
for complete self-government over as large an area of post-1967
Israel as possible.

    On the material level, implications would be measures that
improve the economic if not the socio-economic position of the
Palestinian lower class.  Such measures would include:  strong
support for foreign aid to the Palestinian people, increased
access for Palestinian black-market, minimum-wage and low-wage
labourers to the labour market in pre-1967 Israel; and whatever
other measures would enhance the standard of living of the lower-
class segment of the Palestinian population, within an acceptable
level of risk and injury to the Jewish population of Israel.

    However, if Ayalon's theory is not factually correct, one
needs to suggest an alternative theory, from which quite different
conclusions would be drawn.  

    One possible alternate theory is that Palestinian terrorism is
decisively caused, other secondary motivations notwithstanding, by
the present Palestinian leadership, as a means of maintaining
their own power and affluence, particularly by pressuring foreign
governments and organizations for aid, much of which is skimmed
off for personal use.
    If that theory is true, then then the suggested course of
action would be to remove the present leadership of the PLO.

    Another possible theory is that terrorism is predominantly and
decisively caused by interest-groups, most led by power-centers in 
Mid-East Islamic states, and each competing with the others, by
increasingly dramatic terrorist actions, to establish its prestige
and influence in Israel. 

    If that theory is true, then it entails a different set of
advisable policy-changes and actions.  Those might include:  a
seizure of the Palestinian banking system, and strict controls on
all transfers, both electronic and personal, of foreign funds to
Palestinians resident in Israel.
    It might also include possible threats if not demonstrations
of military action against foreign organizations and quaisi-
government groups determined to be sponsoring and directing
terrorist actions; that was the theory and approach chosen by the
Bush Administration to counter the demonstrated threat of
terrorist attacks against the USA.

    So it makes a great difference which theory one accepts or
creates.  

    But a theory must be designed and accepted on a factual basis;
one can't yield to the temptation of choosing one's theory on the
basis of one's ideologic, sub-cultural (peer group), or religious
preference.

    In particular, the romantic Marxist notion that all
insurrections are an expression of the just grievances of the
oppressed masses; and the sentimental liberal notion that one is
ethically obligated to side with those who suffer most, seem to
have little factual basis.

    Disasterously, many persons, groups, journalists, and news-
media side with the Palestinians on such factually ill-supported
bases.


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[not dated; not sent ]

One might make a case, on spiritual grounds, for the
internationalization of Temple Mount, maybe as a sort of U.N.
World Heritage Site.  And one might on historic ground make a case
(albeit not to haredim) for its continuation under sovereignty of
the state of Israel.  But it would be more difficult to argue that
Temple Mount should be brought under the sovereignty of an Islamic
government (or for that matter, of the Municipality of Roma). 
Unless, of course, it is agreed that the eastern border of Saudi
Arabia be re-instated at or west of Grenada.

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A fashionable Hollywood couple have set out to "put an end to
hate" between the Jewish and 'Palestinian' peoples of the land of
Israel.  The idea, in its simplistic symmetry, is appealing. 
Although on our side, I've noticed very few expressions of hate
toward 'Arabs'.

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Ref:  JP 12 Nov '03 (O'Sullivan)
Re:  Conscientious objection
[ Based primarily on USA Draft regulations ca. 1965 ]
[Cf. esp. handbook of the Central Committee for Conscientious
Objectors, Philadelphia, ca. 1963 ]

Pacifism, and its personal expression as conscientious objection
to military or combatant service, is, as defined judicially in the
USA, an absolute refusal to bear arms.  Conscientious objection
may be motivated either by religion (eg the Witnesses and the
Mennonites) or by 'a belief which functions for a non-religious
person as a religious belief functions for a religious person'.  
[ That was a judicial formulation; accepted by the USA Draft. ]

Draftees applying for conscientious objector status may request
either 1-O classification (civilian work) or 1-A-O classification
(willing to serve in the medical corps, but not to bear arms).  

Selective refusal to serve in the armed forces is usually
politically or ideologically based.  Selective refusal  is not
pacifism, and is not recognized as grounds for exemption as a
conscientious objector.  

In Israel, however, as made clear by the Israel Attorney General's 
response to Rabin's "beatings policy" [ March 1989 (?) ],
selective refusal to follow a military order is not merely
permitted but obligatory in a case of 'manifest illegality'.
  
Pacifism is not quietism; and not necessarily exceptionally
spiritual.  The Israel army is tendentiously incorrect, at least
by criteria in the USA and even India (Mohatma Ghandi), in
describing pacifism is "a pure, personal act that is performed
without seeking publicity or trying to recruit others."  In the
USA, especially during the Vietnam War, members of the Committee
for Nonviolent Action (CNVA; Voluntown Connecticut & New York
city), who were recognized as absolue pacifists, regularly staged
dramatic media-oriented demonstrations.

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 1 Dec '03

I've just been talking with my Palestinian counterpart.  She is
prepared to offer us everything Beilin got, plus free pizza for a
year.  I say go for it.

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Israel is prepared to give away its biblical heartland to anyone
who will sign for it.

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Sent 2 Dec '03 via jpost.com (printed 5 Dec '03)

Letter-to-the-Editor, In Jerusalem: 

Jerusalem should guard its character as the spiritual/cultural
center of the Jewish people.
Arterial automobile traffic should be excluded; unnecessary
automobile traffic should be minimized.  The tranquility  of
religious neighborhoods should be acknowleged and safeguarded;
those few who take offense at the existence of religiosity should
not be permitted to affront it.  
A broad multi-faith range of religious and cultural institutions
should be encouraged, as should inexpensive housing, living, and
recreational facilities. 
Sordid bars and the like should be discouraged.  Parks and other
public areas should be properly monitored.  The Midrahov should
not degrade into a sort of Coney Island. 


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THE KLINGON EMPIRE, PERHAPS
 
Correction:  In a recent letter, I inadvertantly referred to Yossi
Beilin as if he were a representative of the PLO.  Yossi Beilin
does not represent the PLO.  Nobody knows who he represents.

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I read that the government recently shut down Arutz 7 on the
ground that it was fishing in troubled waters without a license,
or posing potential interference with the navigational system of
homing pigeons or some such.  As far as I'm concerned, they can
shut down everything except Voice of Music and the English news. 
But that ain't freedom of expression.

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Sent 3 Dec via www.jpost.com (print)

IT'S EARLY IN THE SEASON

I am glad that our government has finally negotiated the Geneva
Accord.  It makes excellent sense.  But if this is Switzerland,
why are the ski conditions so poor.  Frightfully rocky you know.

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Sent 3 Dec via www.jpost.com (print)

The Jerusalem Post Internet edition, which originally could claim
to be one of the best on-line newspapers, is now practically
worthless, at least to non-subscribers; a front for on-line bulk-
mail advertising.

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NOT TO MENTION ALL THOSE TACKY PINE TREES

Like any civilized European -- and there must be some -- I
sympathize with the 'Palestinians'.  This must have been a lovely
country before the mid-20th century came along with all its
asphalt highways, concrete houses, chemical farming, gasoline
automobiles, and population explosion.  Palestinians would never
have done that stuff.

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WITHOUT CLICKING ON THE EJ -- 
  
Re: JP 2 Dec '03, Letter, Paul Harris (Tel Aviv):  

Paul Harris writes from Tel Aviv (JP Letter 2 Dec):
" Could any of your erudite readers enlighten me as to why
religious Jews and Christians still pay homage to the ancient
Egyptian god Amoun (corrupted to amen)?" 

While erudite nor enlightened I ain't -- 
I'd assumed AMeN was a corruption of AMeT ( 'true' ).

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A few notes on the 'Jenin, Jenin' issue:

One might better argue, not that a demonstrably propagandistic
film should be banned, but that it should be licensed for
distribution only in conjunction with an appropriate rebuttal
film.                                                  

Soldiers and the miltarized society that supports them have little
right to plead for protection of their feelings (however much both
active soldiers and civilians simultaneously preserve the values
of peacetime).  It is their (our) collective 'job', or accepted
role, to be, when one must,  tough enough to withstand attack in
any mode:  physical, intellectual, emotional, psychologic,
psychic. 

In the USA, the ACLU et al. takes pride in occasionally litigating 
on behalf of reprehensible clients in order to establish as
precedent legal rulings that hopefully will, in the general case,
safeguard civil liberties.  It is my impression that in Israel,
which a much smaller and much more cohesive society than the USA,
judicial decisions, even at the highest levels, are based much
more on the particular case.  
    Wittgenstein, following Godel, made it clear enough (in his
Philosophical Investigations) that a general rule can never be
entirely determinative.  

Delimiting the individual human right to civil liberities, is the
need as precondition for a reasonable measure of public security. 
(This is the meta-principle that 'One may not [claiming freedom of
expression] shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre [ if one knows that
there is no fire ]'.)  

Thus there are laws against incitement to violence.  Eg (to take a
much-abused example), against 'advocating the overthrow of the
U.S. government by force and violence'.  

But incitement is quadradic, not dyadic:  in cases of incitement,
unlike cases of documentation, A does not simply state B.  Rather,
in cases of incitement, A states B to C , in order to motivate C
to do D.                             
              
(Sometimes incitement is explicit -- ('Burn down the ghetto!');
more generally it is implicit; (eg Antony's speech in
Shakespeare's Ceasar) and the apparent statement is duplicitious. 

( The duplicity in media-bias might be analyzed and explicated
within 'theory of meaning'; starting from and refining J.L.
Austin's distinction of a statement's locutionary,
'illocutionary', and 'perlocutionary' force. )

So the risk of incitement could be reduced by limiting the
audience rather than banning the statement.   

In the USA, this is recognized in the very limited case of
restricting to supposedly 'mature adults' (!), films and videos
with supposedly inflamatory sexual content.   

(There is also in the USA a much more limited and quite
hypocritical acknowlegement of the need and right to restrict
access by impressionable persons to visual materials that may numb
individual inhibition against committing acts of violence.)
                                                                 
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Sent 3 Dec from jpost.com

The term 'incitement' should not be used recklessly.  For
instance, to term someone a 'traitor' may well be intemperate, but
it does not constitute incitement, provided that one can be
assumed to agree that anyone accused of anything is entitled to
full protection of law. 

[ The assumption that:  if A terms B a traitor, A is advocating
that B be summarily executed by anyone who wishes to do so [ the
fatwa principle, if I recall, as used against Rushdie ]
is true only if A is an official in the Palestinian Authority. ] 

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