Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
‘A Death in Damascus’
The New York Sun accurately characterized the serious threat to Americans, as well as Israelis, posed by Syrian-supported terrorists [“A Death in Damascus,” Editorial, September 27, 2004].
With its ties to international terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, continued occupation of Lebanon, and support for Islamic militants entering Iraq through its porous border, Syria remains a major destabilizing force in the Middle East. The Bush administration must consider increasing the pressure on Damascus through existing legislation that allows even stricter sanctions on that rogue nation.
REP.ELIOT L. ENGEL
17th Congressional District
Bronx, Westchester, and Rockland Counties
Mr. Engel authored the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 and is a member of the House International Relations Committee and Middle East Subcommittee.
‘Living in a Closet’
The New York Sun has given a voice to the Mr. and Mrs. X’s of the Upper West Side of New York who are daring to come out of the closet amidst the overwhelming number of Democrats in the community. My problem is, I have no place to go. [“Living in a Closet,” Mr. X, Opinion, September 8, 2004].
As an American who has closely watched the war on terrorism grow more and more deadly in Israel, and spread to this country, and now threaten the entire world, my primary requirement in a president is that he be truthful in coping with this issue. I know that Senator Kerry and the Clinton-style Democrats who wooed and lost to Yasser Arafat cannot possibly represent my views.
However, President Bush stood before the General Assembly of the United Nations on September 21, and spoke to them about the “principles of the ‘road map’ for peace in that region [the Middle East], calling on Israel to “impose a settlement freeze, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, and avoid any actions that prejudice final negotiations.”
How does one ask the only democracy in the Middle East, which has been fighting the Arab war on terror since the 1920s, to give up its land and its security to terrorists dedicated to its destruction? It is a deceitful and illogical demand.
As Mr. Bush was speaking, a female Arab terrorist from Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem, was planning her suicide bombing of the next day, which took place in the French Hill section of Jerusalem. She succeeded in murdering two civilians and wounding 16. The numbers would have been much higher except for the alertness of an Israeli Border Guard who risked “humiliating” the woman and refused to allow her to board the bus, so she detonated her belt on the spot.
The “Palestinian” Al-Aksa terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack. These are the “Palestinians” with whom Israel is to construct a “road map” for peace. It is impossible to conceive of making peace with a people that rejoices in the brutal beheading of innocent civilians and the glorification of suicide bombers.
Against this background, Mr. Bush addressed Israel’s enemies in the U.N., an organization about which the former American ambassador to the U.N., Jean Kirkpatrick noted, “The U.N. has the image of a world organization based on universal principles of justice and equality. In reality, when the chips are down, it is nothing other than the executive committee of the Third World dictatorships. This is the reason that Israel has received more criticism than any other country.”
These Third World dictators, who sat “stone faced” during the president’s speech on democracy, and their leader, Kofi Annan, spend their time consumed with condemning Israel instead of protecting the millions of people whose blood is on their hands because they have been neglected and sold out by the U.N. to whom they mistakenly turn for help.
Mr. Bush should not have been pandering to these oil-for-food destroyers. He should not continue to pretend that there can be a “road map” to a “Palestinian” state where the lion will lie down with the lamb in the peaceable kingdom. And he should know that the Arab states, driven by the Islamic imperative to fight, mutilate, and drive out the infidels through violence, will not “end incitement in their own media, cut off public and private funding for terrorism, and establish normal relations with Israel.” Instead, they will heighten their incitement and hatred and funding of terrorism so that Islamic terrorism will become an even greater global threat.
I’m seeking a president who is not afraid to speak the truth. Unless we state clearly that Islam is not a religion of peace, that “Palestinian” blood lust will only be quenched when they have driven all the Jews out of all of Israel, and that protecting oneself from an enemy dedicated to our destruction might require “humiliating” that enemy at times, we have lost the battle.
As Americans are forced to impose more and more security regulations in their daily lives, we should understand the incredibly difficult and painful job the Israelis have had over the last few years in fighting terror. America has lost its moral compass. It needs a president who will reclaim it.
HELEN FREEDMAN
Executive Director
Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI
Manhattan
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