Martin K http://www.jta.org/user/profile/270 en-us zsilberman@washingtonjewishweek.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 David -- First, if you defend terrorism (as you do), you are not a civilized human being. Second, educate yourself about the history of Arab rejectionism -- the Palestinians could have had a state in '48 (though back then they were just called Arabs) and rejected Israel and turned to terrorism before '67. Have you heard of the three no's at Khartoum? (Probably not.) Did you hear about Barak's offer to give the Pals 97% or so of the West Bank and Gaza and to share Judaism's most holy city? The Palestinian response? A war of terrorism and suicide bombings. Go post on some far-left blog where other ignorant people who defend terrorism post. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Of course, Finkelstein doesn't believe the Holocaust occurred -- so much for his views on anything. And, of course, he probably doesn't accept the fact that Hamas was firing thousands of rockets at Israel -- without which, there would have been no Gaza invasion. And, Norm, terrorists who don't wear uniforms and work out of civilian territory to launch their attacks often are too cowardly to fight. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Mr. Ehrens: Yes, Netanyahu is not rushing to create a Palestinian state, but for far different reasons than Hamas opposes a two-state solution: Having seen Israeli-evacuated land handed over to the Palestinians so the Palestinians, instead of building a peaceful state, could use it to launch rocket attacks on Israeli cities, perhaps Netanyahu rightly questions whether ceding more land would put more Israeli lives at risk -- hardly an incentive for Israel to turn over more land. Hamas opposes Israel based in large part on its antiSemitic charter. The two aren't comparable. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Those who cry "censorship" miss the point. Organizations generally stand for something. For many organizations, there are some things that are not open for debate. For example, the NAACP does not invite speakers for "debates" on whether blacks are inferior to whites. Similarly, Jewish organizations should not "debate" whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. Hamas -- which Corrie supported -- takes the clear view that Israel should be destroyed. Hence, most Jews who identify as such, are offended when a supposedly Jewish organization thinks it fit to have a debate on this topic. I therefore disagree w/ the poster who said the problem was that only one side was being presented at the Jewish film festival. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I agree w/ Rabbi Sacks that the story has been exaggerated. For example, the Alef restaraunt in Krakow is to Jewish life what Disneyland is to reality -- a plastic facsimile. And when people quote Taube they should note his financial interest in selling the so-called Jewish revival in Poland - his travel agency. That said, based on my visits to Poland and my family still there (my parents came from Poland), there has been progress in diminished anti-Semitism. Which isn't to say it's gone. Also, people shouldn't consider Poles to have been the worst antiSemites during the Holocaust - there were the Croats and Ukrainians, to name two other nationalities. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Good for the Australian organization. If anything, they should have more emphatically denounced the play and anyone associated with its offensive theme. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Good points. One quibble: Cohen isn't a "venerated" NYT columnist. I don't even know if he has a regular column in the paper and, if he does, he only got it very recently. I think he's really an International Herald Tribune columnist. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00