Letters to the Editor, June 3, 2024: Historical factors

Historical Factors

In “Beyond victim mentality” (May 30,) Marc D. Angel presents interesting questions about Holocaust education. Referring to a newly-launched program by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust  to bring in all eighth graders in New York City to learn the lessons of the Holocaust, he questions whether this would not in fact present Jews as perennial victims in search of sympathy.

As a Holocaust guide for many years at that very museum, as well as at the Rockland Holocaust Center in New York State, and also here in Israel, I can assure him that this is never the goal in Holocaust education. Rather, the museum experience allows students to follow the rise of antisemitism through the stages of stereotyping, discrimination, persecution and ultimately the Final Solution, and is designed to encourage students to think critically about the factors that made such a tragic event possible.

I have seen students starting a visit with total disinterest, but then ending the tour with questions such as: “How can people act this way to other people?”

As a case in point, decades ago in Rockland County there were several antisemitic incidents and the culprits were apprehended. Instead of other consequences, the courts offered them an opportunity to participate in a tour of the Holocaust museum there. Without exception, the youngsters not only expressed remorse but ended up becoming involved in the museum and larger community.

Every Holocaust museum that I know includes post-Holocaust history, including the State of Israel.

There are many things that visitors may take away from a Holocaust museum visit, but learning to identify the historical factors that made such horrors possible must always be part of the ultimate goal to prevent its repetition in any time and venue.

MARION REISS

Beit Shemesh

The proper conclusion

Regarding “Israel, Hamas urged to accept Biden hostage deal” (June 2): I hope that Prime Minister Netanyahu actually means it when his office says that “the notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter.”

Our soldiers must not have been sacrificed for a deal with terrorists who committed the October 7 massacre, when Hamas invaded Israel and burned alive entire families in their homes, raped and mutilated women, beheaded children and then took hostages. This crime must be brought to the proper conclusion of the total destruction of those monsters. Nothing less will do.

Had the government gone into this war the day after with all guns blazing, Hamas would be just a nightmare; a horrible nightmare, but one without the rockets that are still being fired into our homes. We would have had a greater chance of rescuing the hostages.

So far, our reward for allowing a massive number of truckloads of food and fuel into Gaza has been hundreds of dead IDF soldiers and broken families that cannot return to their homes because of the constant rocket fire. Our people have been made refugees, and there is a feeling of unease throughout the land.

As a sovereign Jewish state, our first duty and obligation should have been to our own people and land, but we have failed miserably, as we have done so often before when we made concessions to an insatiable and horrific enemy. President Biden has been allowed to run this war, and we have suffered this humiliation at a great cost.

EDITH OGNALL

Netanya

Novel construct

“Trump says he will appeal historic conviction” (June 2) quotes Democratic US President Joe Biden as saying that his opponent had been given the same opportunity to defend himself as are all Americans. Nothing could be further from the truth. The give-away in the article comes only in the second-to-last paragraph. It speaks of the novel construct of the case against the main contender against the sitting president, somehow allowing the prosecutors to overcome statutes of limitations that would apply to other citizens.

The intent of this case was simply to “Get Trump.” Despite what the article states, Trump was never told what the specific charges were against him, which is a right guaranteed by the US Constitution, until it was revealed in the prosecutor’s summary. Because of the judge’s reversal in the usual order of summaries, the defense had no opportunity to counter, even at a late stage in the deliberations. Furthermore, Trump was barred by the judge from bringing witnesses favorable to his case.

The defendant’s request to have the judge recused because of his stated bias was denied, as was his request to have the case relocated away from the anti-Trump bias of the jurors who were selected in the Manhattan district. Most legal commentators, regardless of their position for or against the candidate, agree that the appeals court will overturn the decision. In the end, Trump’s only crime was that of being Trump.

DAVID SMITH

Ra’anana

Groundless hope

Regarding “Labor’s lessons” (May 30): The idea that “Israel needs leaders who offer hope for the future,” the concluding words of this editorial, may seem like the most innocent of platitudes. However, groundless hope has caused us a lot of trouble: The hope that terrorists, given power, will decide not to be terrorists; the hope that electronics will suffice to keep a border safe; the hope that Western powers will stand by us unreservedly in the fight against enemies of democracy.

Israel needs leaders who not only can hope for the best but can expect the worst and can stand prepared for all eventualities.

MARK L. LEVINSON

Herzliya

Stirring up the pot

Gadi Eisenkot and Benny Gantz are again criticizing the prime minister, and are calling for elections in the middle of a war (“Eisenkot blasts Netanyahu, calls for elections,” May 30.)

 Elections by definition are divisive and would jeopardize the war effort while our heroic soldiers are putting their lives on the line. The two leaders of the National Unity party, which has become an oxymoron, specifically say that Netanyahu has failed to bring victory on the battlefield. As a member of the war cabinet, Gantz, and an observer, Eisenkot, they should be telling the cabinet members how they would conduct the war differently instead of publicly stirring up the pot.

As to insisting on presenting a plan for “the day after,” one thing is for sure: The IDF will be responsible for security for the long term. Anything other than focusing on winning the war and bringing the hostages back home is only a distraction.

What is their plan for the day after? Bringing in a “reformed” Palestinian Authority to govern as US Secretary of State Blinken is suggesting? These two have become the poodles of the Biden administration. What Israelis want is a united government that speaks with one strong voice while Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are trying to destroy us.

We need leaders who first and foremost promote the needs of the nation, and not their personal political ambitions and their desire for power to guide their actions. As the motto states: “Together we will win.”

FRED EHRMAN

Ra’anana