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September 5, 2003/Elul 8 5763, Vol. 55, No. 54
Letters to the EditorSeptember 5, 2003
Unfair opposition to PipesEditor:I was pleased to see your long overdue editorial in support of Daniel Pipes to be selected to the board of the United States Institute of Peace. However, your editorial was incomplete. Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy, Tom Harkin and Christopher Dodd actively opposed Pipes' nomination. Why did these senators oppose Pipes? What did they hope to gain by stifling the Pipes' nomination? Daniel Pipes is absolutely qualified for this position. He speaks with honesty, integrity, knowledge and experience. Again, why the opposition? Your editorial should have posed these questions. Denton Simmons Phoenix Azrieli's assessment is off the markEditor:In response to Avi Azrieli's "Israel, revisited," (Jewish News, Aug. 29) yes, Israelis are disillusioned. Secular Zionism isn't what it once was. But it's not relegated solely to aging pioneers, as Azrieli suggests. And it's the will to live, not fatalism, that Israelis demonstrate daily, despite everything that goes against them, including their Diaspora relatives who, ruled by fear, prefer to keep their distance. Politics is still the hot topic, at least among my Israeli friends, who bat around their political speculations with gusto. And I understand Israelis are not turning off the news, as shown by the distinctive hourly tones that precede the top of the hour radio news, heard in buses, taxis, cars and stores. I also disagree with Azrieli's assessment of the Israeli Orthodox community. Conflicts between Israeli non-religious and Orthodox have been put on hold for years because of the war with the Palestinians. Only limited numbers of secular Israelis have turned religious. The majority continues to deeply resent Orthodox intrusions into their lives, circumventing them routinely. Israel's "youthful promise" is still in the making. At 55 years of age, she's just a kid. Middle age won't set in for another 100 years or so. Judy Kopp-Wellins Chandler
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