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J Street story deserved better placement, headline

Sometimes I find it very discouraging to pick up my newest edition of The Jewish State when it arrives, as this newspaper finds it impossible to suppress its politics in order to cover Jewish events in an unbiased manner. Nearly one-third of the front page is given up to a piece on Mark Thiessen, who is essentially an apologist for our last president and his policies concerning torture of prisoners and a major critic of our current president.

Instead, a much more topical and relevant story, the piece on J Street and its Feb. 4 nationwide launch of many local J Street branches including the one in Central Jersey (supposedly one of the areas that this newspaper is covering!), is relegated to page 4. Even more troubling is the article's headline: "J Street launches N.J. branch, slams U.S. Jews on Israel". This headline really says it all in terms of the newspaper's viewpoint toward J Street and its inability to keep bias out of its reporting. J Street is certainly not slamming U.S. Jews -- J Street is comprised of U.S. Jews! Its overriding message is pro-Israel and pro-peace. What J Street is critical of is organized American Jewry's approach, political tactics, and its desire to make it appear that all American Jews are of a single mind and that any criticism of Israel's politics is either anti-Semitic or threatening to the existence of the state of Israel. But there are many, many of us Jews across the country and yes, even living here in New Jersey (where we support our Jewish organizations and therefore receive The Jewish State newspaper) who have strong allegiance to the state of Israel but also feel that open discussion and the ability to learn from different points of view are important ideals of our religion and democracy.

So, editors and writers for The Jewish State, could we have a little less politics, and a little more unbiased reporting of events relating to the Jewish community in our state?

Stacey Bachrach
Rocky Hill

Settlement in the West Bank

While the world is hoping for the negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis to resume, even if in the format of indirect "proximity" talks, the Israeli government continues with actions that undermine peace, provoke and humiliate Palestinians, and upset Israel's supporters. Eviction of Palestinians from their homes and establishment of settlers in East Jerusalem continue nonstop.

Settlement building in the occupied West Bank has never been frozen. Indeed, as soon as the P.A. agreed to proximity talks, Israel authorized the construction of 112 new homes in the West Bank. Netanyahu announced his program of "heritage sites" and put on his list two of the most contentious sites in the occupied West Bank: Rachel's Tomb by Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. Hours after the arrival of Vice President Joe Biden to help launch indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Israel announced the construction of extra 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem.

The American Jewish community should be appalled by these actions. It is time for American Jews to send a clear message to Israel.

Chiara Nappi
Princeton

An open letter to Hillary Clinton

Dear Secretary Clinton, I cannot justify, in my own mind, why you turned your back in such a manner on all of the friends and supporters that you have that truly believed that you supported the state of Israel.

First of all, how can you condone the talks that are not face-to-face, after all your close-up experience with the Palestinians when they walked out of the Camp David talks that your husband had called for? No rebuke for all that the Palestinians have done? It was Senator Javits' niece that was killed so many years ago, when the Palestinians blew up the bus carrying tourists, women, and small children or that the Palestinian woman who was "honored" in Ramallah with a square dedicated to her great and noble deed, and yet, not a word of condemnation on your part?

And how did the Palestinians get that land that they had lost in the war (that they started) if not from the Israelis that were offering a hand in peace? I truly feel that it is you who should be apologizing to the state of Israel! You made a great many supporters stop to think, "What does friendship mean to our secretary of state?"

Marilyn Shustak
Monroe