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.

‘Paris, Oslo, Helsinki’
I was shocked to read in The New York Sun that Norway recently forbade Jews from marking the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Who would not be? [“Paris, Oslo, Helsinki,” Editorial, November 12, 2004]. It is true that Norwegian police stopped a few individuals from taking part in the commemoration, but these individuals represented different far-right and anti-immigrant groups in Norway.
Among them were also Jews connected to the Norwegian Israel Center, which is highly disputed among Norwegian Jews. The Jewish congregation in Oslo has lately expelled the leader of NIS, Erez Uriely, and his wife because of their cooperation with “[a group] that [we] as a cultural and religious minority in the Norwegian society sharply distance ourselves from.”
The TV2 report you refer to in your editorial was a result of sloppy journalism. Their claim that no Jews were present in the commemoration is not true. I have personally spoken to several Norwegian Jews that have confirmed that Jews were, indeed, present. Among those was Christine Mohn, the leader of the Norwegian Association against Anti-Semitism.
It is true, however, that many Norwegian Jews are critical to the current commemoration. The reason for this is that marchers on other issues than Kristallnacht and the Holocaust were included in the torchlight procession, including marchers critical of the current Norwegian immigration policies.
0YVIND STR0MMEN
Bergen, Norway
‘Arafat’s Culture of Lies’
I have just returned from a trip to Israel which concentrated on visiting the threatened communities of northern Samaria – Kadim, Ganim, Homesh and Sanur – and the 21 communities in Gush Katif, Gaza, all of which Prime Minister Sharon believes must be ethnically cleansed of Jews in order to pacify “Palestinian” demands.
Although it is recognized that there was no “partner for peace” under Yasser Arafat, now that he is dead, nothing has changed. As columnist Hillel Halkin points out in his article “Arafat’s Culture of Lies,” [Opinion, November 16, 2004], Arafat’s “likely successor, Mahmoud Abbas” must continue the lying by denying that his life was threatened when “mourners” murdered two of his bodyguards.
Yet, Mr. Halkin joins the host of irrational pundits when he concludes that despite the fact that negotiations with Arafat led nowhere, and nothing has changed in the culture of the terrorist Arabs, the Israeli government should “press ahead with its plan for disengagement from Gaza.”
The 8,500 Jews living in the Gush Katif/Gaza communities are the most united, steadfast, dedicated people with whom I have had the privilege of meeting and working. They have no intention of leaving the beautiful homes, farms, ranches, hothouses, synagogues, schools, playgrounds and friendships that they have built up over 35 years.
Nor do they plan to disinter the bodies in their cemeteries, many of whom were victims of Arab terror, only to rebury them and once again sit through the mourning period.
I suggest that before Mr. Halkin and his ilk continue the irrational talk of “Palestinian” terror which must be placated by Israeli expulsions of Jews, that they visit the communities as I did this past week with a group of 40 Americans and Canadians under the auspices of Americans For a Safe Israel, or AFSI, and the Zionist Organization of America, or ZOA.
Let Mr. Halkin sit at dinner, as I did, with David Hatuel, the hus band of Tali Hatuel, murdered, along with her four daughters and unborn son, by Arab terrorists.
Let him look Mr. Hatuel in the eyes, in his beautiful home in Katif, and tell him that it makes sense to follow through on the Sharon expulsion plan. I don’t think that even he can twist his mind around that thought under those conditions.
HELEN FREEDMAN
Manhattan
‘The Merck Case’
The New York Sun’s editorial [“The Merck Case” correctly deplores the tactics of tort lawyers in their quest to dismember Merck and get a piece of the billions likely to be re-distributed subsequent to the Vioxx withdrawal [November 15, 2004].
But you are wrong to conflate the needless and unjust assaults on the pharmaceutical industry with the well-justified litigation against the tobacco industry.
The cigarette companies are still flourishing, despite having rightfully been in the “sights” of the lawyers for over a decade.
Their intention is not to heal, but to harm – well, their intention is to sell cigarettes, but they are indifferent to the horrific toll of disease and death caused by their products, which amounts to the same thing.
If the tobacco industry stood at the bar of “scientifically knowledgeable experts” and not “overly sympathetic jurors,” it would be put out of business as a consequence of appropriate compensatory and punitive damages.
GILBERT ROSS, M.D.
Medical Director
The American Council on Science and Health
Manhattan
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