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By Rochelle Kochin, , Seattle Akiva Segan says it is inflammatory to use words such as “unspeakable evil” and “savage” to describe the terrorists who entered the home of a young Israeli family in the middle of the night and stabbed to death the parents and three of the childrenContinue Reading

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By Fred Ferate, , Austin, Texas Thanks for printing Akiva Segan’s letter (“Inflammatory words,” April 1). There is so much hatred in the world. Mr. Basson’s description of Palestinians as savages is not going to help break down barriers and walls, nor lead to the face-to-face dialogue and negotiations necessaryContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle I commend Edward Alexander for his perceptive op-ed article (“A gentile critic of the new anti-Semitism,” April 1). It was right on the mark. Alexander rightly points out that the resurgent anti-Semitism is not just the physical violence of Jew hatred of young Muslims, butContinue Reading

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By Akiva Segan, , Seattle While Josh Basson has made another case for Israel to push aggressively for negotiations with Palestinians (“True obstacles to peace,” Letters, March 25), he’s also continuing a remarkable vilification and hate campaign about them. It’s of inflammatory words: “Savage killers” brings to mind European-British descriptionsContinue Reading

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By Edward Alexander , Special to JTNews Jews often have occasion to lament the truth of the biblical text that says that our enemies will arise from among us: Many of Israel’s fiercest enemies today are themselves Jews. But we also (sometimes) have occasion to rejoice that some of Israel’sContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Rick Harkavy, Congregation Bet Chaverim “My father was a wandering Aramean….” It is with these words that our Passover Haggadah reminds us each year of the wanderings of our people throughout the ages. As we read the familiar passages, sing the well-known melodies and eat the traditional PesachContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle The recent outrageous massacre of innocents in Itamar, an Israeli settlement in the Samarian Hills, when terrorists infiltrated the home of Udi and Ruth Fogel raises serious questions. This horrific act illustrates that “settlements” are not the obstacle to peace as some would have usContinue Reading

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By Pat Griffith, AFS GPS Volunteer, Seattle Thank you for your heartwarming article about AFS exchange student Mohammed’s ecumenical experience in Seattle (M.O.T., “Saudi student enjoys kosher food,” Feb. 25). Now more than ever we need people-to-people relationships to dispel stereotypical images that are so prevalent. This year AFS ofContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, The Kavana Cooperative At a conference earlier this year, I heard a denominational leader now close to retirement ask whether the young leaders who are going outside of traditional institutional frameworks understand “who published the siddurim that they are using, and who gave them their trainingContinue Reading

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By Akiva Kenny Segan, , Seattle Josh Basson’s latest letter deserves congrats (“In need of democracy,” Feb. 25): He has made the strongest case possible against dozens of letters he authored over the past decade. He wrote forcefully and unceasingly in support of a rejectionist stance to negotiations with PalestiniansContinue Reading

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By Eric Soll, , Edmonds The governor of the state of Wisconsin is addressing his state’s budget deficit by attempting to limit the collective bargaining rights of both state employees and teachers. Furthermore, he is also attempting to have those employees contribute a small percentage of their wages to theirContinue Reading

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By Rabbi David Fredman, West Seattle Torah Learning Center A few weeks ago I was at an event in town and a friend of mine came over. We began to discuss different goings-on in the Seattle community. My friend, let’s call him Jack, told me about a certain Jewish eventContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle Ellis Goldberg’s column (“On Jews and Egypt: Dispatches from the front lines,” Feb. 11) was informative. It is important that the new government that eventually emerges in Egypt be truly democratic and honors the peace treaty it signed with Israel in 1977. Also that thereContinue Reading

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By Robert Wilkes, , Bellevue My column, “Jewish Delusions and the Threat to the Jewish People,” (Jan. 28) evoked Casablanca-like shock from Seattle blogger Richard Silverstein in the JTNews. Silverstein pieced together, ransom-note style, segments from my article separated by dots to assert that I had quoted him unfairly. IContinue Reading

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By Philip R. Scheier, , Shoreline How much more courageous can one be than the self-proclaimed journalist/blogger Richard Silverstein, a Seattle resident? In his meandering rant in the JTNews (“The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not occupy,” Feb. 11) Mr. Silverstein acknowledges that if Israel did adopt the Silverstein plan forContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jaron Matlow, , Olympia I am very concerned about the comments Mr. Silverstein makes regarding Israel (“The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not occupy,” Feb. 11). I am concerned about Jews who so strongly support the Palestinians against Israel. Mr. Silverstein claims to be a Zionist, yet his statementsContinue Reading

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By Michelle Kaufman, , Seattle Mr. Silverstein, who do you propose will make this peace with Israel that you talk about (“The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not occupy,” Feb. 11)? The two-state solution was first proposed back in 1937, again in 1948, at Camp David, at Oslo, and continues toContinue Reading

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By Jeffrey Weiser, , Redmond Whenever I read an article like Richard Silverstein’s “The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not occupy“ (Feb. 11) I am reminded of the Yiddish proverb “A father who does not steal to feed his starving children is not a father.” Yes, Mr. Silverstein, the Israeli occupationContinue Reading