White’s ‘apology’ is no apology at all
District of Columbia Councilman Trayon White claimed that the Rothschilds were controlling the weather for their financial gain, and then he apologized for hurtful remarks and for offending the Jewish community (“Trayon White meets the community,” March 29). The problem with such an apology is that it implies that there is some truth to the accusation, which is totally absurd. Accepting such an apology is to tacitly acquiesce to such an ignorant and baseless charge.
Any qualified meteorologist would find such a remark laughable. However nowhere does the councilman or his followers apologize for being wrong, only for offending some people. And such an apology is apparently accepted? Come on!
ERNEST R. FREEMAN
Kensington
Similarities should give way to cooperation
I wholeheartedly agree that Jews and Muslims have more similarities, so we should be less adversarial than many of us believe we should (“More alike than anyone thought,” March 29).
For American Jews and Muslims, the biggest common threat is white supremacy. And still, many American Jews continue to turn a blind eye toward it.
BARRY DWORK
Silver Spring
Keep getting Rabbi Zemel’s word out
If I had my way I would reprint once a month Rabbi Daniel Zemel’s open letter to the Israeli prime minister (“An open letter to the Israeli prime minister,” Feb. 22). I’d also encourage as many people as possible to send the article to Benjamin Netanyahu. Keep getting the word out until it does some good.
Rabbi Zemel is correct and eloquent in this matter. He puts it well that the African refugee issue is simply a moral question, inasmuch as “these asylum-seekers pose no threat to Israel.” Good God, I wish we, a generation or two ago, had been asylum finders at a time when they had become asylum-seekers and no threat to others.
Rabbi Zemel is also precisely right that deporting African refugees is “profoundly un-Jewish and hints of the most unbecoming racism.” Zemel’s call to responsibility rings true, “that Israel be a beacon to the world. Give us a policy of which Jewry can be proud. Let us point to Israel as a country that gives voice to our ancient teaching about saving a life. … Please, heed their voices and stand with the justice and compassion demanded by our people’s history.”
We all need to hear these words again and again.
RABBI REEVE BRENNER
Bethesda
