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July 11, 2003/Tamuz 11 5763, Vol. 55, No.46
Letters to the EditorJuly 11, 2003
Where were new strategies for peace?Editor:In his letter, "Keep mind open on Middle East," (Jewish News, July 4) Professor Gordon Weiner opined that because I described the misleading title of the Arizona State University seminar, "After Oslo: New Strategies for Middle East Peace," as illustrating a bait-and-switch tactic, I must have heard "new approaches that displeased" me. Well, yes and no. I heard approaches that displeased me, but they were not new. They were the same positions that have been held by the Arabs for the past 55 years. For example, Professor Rashid Khalidi, an Arab-American professor on the seminar panel, put forth these old Arab demands as the sine qua non for a settlement:
Suggesting that the books on these two be considered balanced and closed would indeed have been a "new strategy for Middle East peace." Steve Ames Paradise Valley Politically correct Supreme CourtEditor:The ruling in the Lawrence vs. Texas sodomy case demonstrates the Supreme Court's judicial activism. Decisions should be based on the text of the Constitution, longstanding history and precedent. This Court has turned its back on any affinity for the Constitution's original intent - to severely restrict government. It manifested a lack of judgment by hearing this case. The opinion had more to do with moral relativism and the concept that the Constitution is a living, evolving document. The ruling imposes the current cultural climate on the people of a particular state. In this case, the court removed from the people their right to create community standards for themselves. Powerful pressure groups were able to obtain from unelected judges what they have been unable to obtain through the democratic process from their elected legislators. Activist judges have taken a stand in the cultural war. They made rulings on the political, moral and cultural areas of American life based on the shifting sands of political correctness. Who tells the Supreme Court when it is wrong? Irma Epstein Sun City West Reagan deserves hero statusEditor:Your commentary "Who needs political heroes" (Jewish News, July 4) regarding Ronald Reagan is far off base and, unfortunately, demonstrates your lack of knowledge of basic historical facts. Ronald Reagan's vision and implementation of the series of events that led to the demise of the Soviet Union is, in and of itself, enough to make him the political hero of many Americans, including our current president. I suggest that you begin with the reading of "Reagan's War" by Peter Schweizer. S. R. Goldston Phoenix
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