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November 21, 2008

Support of 'peace process' was a mistake

Your op-ed piece, "Twist and Shout: The dangerous strategy of the Jewish media's obfuscation" (Nov. 7) makes an interesting, yet questionable assumption.

You correctly state several facts: "Every war waged against Israel has been ... a war to annihilate Israel and the Jews"; "the survival of Israel represents the strength and spirit of the Jewish people"; and "This is a fundamental understanding of what the state of Israel means for global Jewry. It is so basic that our enemies don't even attempt to deny it."

Then, you make the assumption that many who want Israel and the Jewish people to survive make. You ask if the "modern Jewish community understands" what Israel represents, and state, "I have to admit, sometimes, it's clear that many of us do not."

You then go on to support this "lack of understanding" on the part of liberal journalists who happen to have a "Jewish-sounding" last name.

I admit that this is a common assumption made by those who support the state of Israel and who want Jews to survive. They think that, just because a person or organization has a "Jewish-sounding" name or claims that they're not rabid Jew-haters, e.g., "Peace Now", they must be "brothers". Surely they, unlike our enemies and an uncaring world, are not lusting for the total and complete annihilation of Jewry.

Do you have any factual basis for this assumption or is it just a feel-good theory?

Let's look at some of the evidence, which supports an alternate assumption.

According to an Arutz Sheva broadcast on Memorial Day 5768 (2008), 90 Israelis were murdered between December 1987, when the first Arab "intifada" broke out, and the signing of the Oslo Accords in late 1993.

Between the Oslo signing and the beginning of what became known as the Oslo War in September 2000, 251 Israelis were murdered by Arab terrorists. Another 1,320 have been murdered by Arab terrorists since the Oslo War began in September 2000.

If that's insufficient, shall we look at the expulsion from Gaza and how well that's worked out for the Jews?

To the best of my knowledge, no one has apologized for any errors in judgment or admitted that their support for the so-called "peace process" was a mistake. Given that these people are leftists and liberals, admitting they made a mistake is not something I would expect since I've never seen it happen in my lifetime. But if it wasn't a mistake, what was it?

Many of those on the right assume that our leftist "brothers" are either ignorant of these facts or are too stupid to see the obvious cause-and-effect relationship between appeasement and increased terror. To be honest, I do know some former Clinton and now Obama supporters who are that ignorant and stupid. But, can the same assumption be made about all of them? Especially liberal "Jewish" "journalists" who have access to more facts than the average man on the street?

Some 2270 years ago, Israel was governed by Hellenists - people who were born Jews, but whose values nearly caused the extermination of our people. The Maccabees, the "ultra-Orthodox" of the time, recognized the threat and took appropriate action.

I admit that the situations are not identical; yet the modern state of Israel and Jewry the world over is being threatened (yet again) with extermination. Those who want Israel and the Jewish people to survive should be able to recognize our enemies and those who support them. Even if they have "Jewish-sounding" names.

Benjamin Feigenbaum
East Brunswick


Info Line receives accreditation

After almost two years of work, on Aug. 28, Info Line of Middlesex County was awarded National Accreditation by the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems. Info Line of Middlesex County is the first Information and Referral Call Center in New Jersey to receive this honor, and the 100th out of more than 1,400 call centers in the nation to have received national accreditation.

Info Line of Middlesex County was reviewed in early August by two reviewers, one from Connecticut and the other from Ohio. We were reviewed on our ability to deliver services to clients based on the AIRS National Standards. The areas we were reviewed on were:

  • Service Delivery - examples: Information Provision, Hours of Coverage, Crisis Intervention, advocacy for people in need, the ability of the staff to assist difficult callers and people living with special needs, and adherence to the standard of confidentiality.
  • The Resource Database - examples: Inclusion/Exclusion, data elements, maintenance and updating of records.
  • Reports and Measures - examples: Caller data collection, data analysis and reporting.
  • Cooperative Relationships - examples: Service delivery coordination, cooperative relationships within the county, state and nationally.
  • Organizational Governance - examples: Code of Ethics, nondiscrimination policies, Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, a board of directors, mission statement, program evaluations, policies, procedures, hiring and training that meets the national standards.
  • Info Line did so well in the review, in fact, that we have been asked by AIRS to share our staff hiring and evaluations procedures as a National Best Practice for all centers in the country to use.
  • The mission of Info Line of Middlesex County is to connect those in need with comprehensive health and human service information and resources to improve the quality of their lives.

    • We look forward to continuing to provide quality Information and Referral services to the residents of Middlesex County for many years to come. If you or someone you know needs any type of human or social service assistance, please call Info Line toll free anytime day or night at (888) 908-INFO (4636). All services are free and confidential.

    Steven Nagel, CIRS
    Executive Director, Info Line of Central Jersey
    Milltown