Letters to the Editor, July 10, 2024: Recognize the truth

Recognize the truth

As president emeritus of Jewish Veg and author of Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, Revitalizing Judaism, I want to strongly commend Alan Freishtat, director of the Wellness Clinic, for “To tell the truth” (July 2), which discusses widespread nutritional misconceptions. It is essential that people recognize the truth for their health and that of our imperiled planet.

Most people think that eggs are a healthy food, but it has the greatest concentration of dietary cholesterol, contributing to the current epidemic of heart disease,

Most people think that milk is a healthy food, but it was designed to rapidly increase the weight of baby cows, so its consumption contributes to the present epidemic of obesity. Many delicious, nutritious substitutes exist, including soy, rice, almond, and coconut milk.

Most people think they must consume meat to get adequate protein but a well-balanced plant-based diet can provide sufficient protein. Most people get far more protein than they need, and the excess protein in meat and other animal products is a major cause of several life-threatening diseases. Many peer-reviewed studies in respected medical journals discuss the many health advantages of animal-free diets.

Shifts to such diets can also help avert a climate catastrophe because the vast areas of the world now used for grazing and growing feed products for animals could be reforested. The additional trees would absorb much atmospheric CO2, reducing it from its current very dangerous levels, potentially leaving a habitable, healthy, environmentally sustainable world for future generations.

The shifts would also be consistent with basic Jewish teachings on preserving our health, treating animals compassionately, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, reducing hunger, and pursuing peace.

RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ

Shoresh

We can only dream

Susan Hattis Rolef does a good job, in “Labour’s dazzling victory” (July 8), of comparing the British and Israeli voting systems, highlighting the shortcomings of both.

Yes, it is true that in the UK, the percentage of seats gained vis-a-vis the percentage of vote attained (Labour gaining 64% of the seats with only 34% of the votes) is a big disadvantage of the system. However, one aspect of that system, which is totally lacking for us here in Israel, is the following: Every citizen, irrespective of how they voted, or even if they did not vote at all, has their own representative in the House of Commons.

One’s constituency MP is legally bound to represent every citizen in their constituency, and every citizen has access to their MP. Here in Israel, we can only dream of such representation.

ELLIE MORRIS

Aseret

The final say

Regarding “‘Khamenei will wait on nuke policy to see who wins US vote’” (July 8): As an analyst with the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Raz Zimmt’s opinions on Iran must be taken seriously. Nonetheless, he is mistaken when he asserts that Ayatollah Khamenei does not have the final say in who gets elected in Iran.

No one should be deceived by the election of supposed reformer Masoud Pezeshkian to Iran’s Presidency. Just like Hassan Rouhani, the last Iranian president who was presented to the world as a reformer, Pezeshkian will follow Khamenei’s agenda to further the Iranian regime’s goals of destroying Israel and obtaining a nuclear arsenal.

Rouhani bragged after completing his term about deceiving the West, as did his supposedly reform-minded foreign minister Javad Zarif. Their presentation as reformers turned out to be a feint.

No one should be surprised or deceived by this current Iranian feint. It’s a common tactic in chess, a game which has a long history from the days of ancient Persia, and Ayatollah Khamenei won’t hesitate to manipulate election results to further Iran’s nefarious goals.

Regarding Iranian regime elections, as Joseph Stalin said, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”

DANIEL H. TRIGOBOFF

Williamsville, NY

A question of time

I found “CRIF head: Melenchon is a threat to Jews” by Michael Starr (July 9) to be very disturbing and indeed frightening, but not just for the Jews of France. Although at this moment the problem of the Jews of France is critical, the exact same problem awaits the Jews of England, Germany, Ireland and most other countries in Europe. It is only a question of time.

The recent elections in the UK and The Netherlands, and the not-so-recent elections in Germany in 2021, have left little room for doubt, and all those Jews who chant the age-old mantra that “it could not happen here” merely prove the epithet that “there is none so blind as they who will not see.”

Perhaps the opinion of the liberal-minded among European Jews will now start to change and they may realize that they must stand firm with Israel in its fight against the monsters of Hamas and their Iranian financiers, as well as against the all-pervading global antisemitism, because if Israel is not there for them in their time of trouble, where will they all move to next?

LAURENCE BECKER

Jerusalem

Sheer hypocrisy

Regarding “Hamas control of fashion events?” (July 9): Anti-Israel tentacles are spreading to every aspect of so-called civilized society. Now Berlin Fashion Week appears to be making its own contribution. What sheer hypocrisy of a city and an event where “Free Palestine” is openly displayed by a set of designers.

We learn and must not forget, as is stated in this article, that in the period beginning 1933, more than 2,700 Jewish fashion firms became victims to German greed and antisemitism. Within a span of just six years, Berlin’s fashion companies, most of which were Jewish, were expropriated, the fashion designers were expelled, forced labor was established, and the creative industry that had existed since 1836 was destroyed.

What’s more, after the war, in 1945, as Uwe Westphal writes, the industry recovered, but Berlin fashion was free of Jews.

STEPHEN VISHNICK

Tel Aviv