Published in Washington Post

Too soon for 'democracy works' The June 25 front-page article “Islamist named winner in Egypt” referred to the Egyptian election as “one of the most concrete signs of democratic change.” One needs only to look next door, at the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip, to see that one election does not a democracy make — especially where an Islamist government is concerned. Not a single election has been held since the totalitarian Hamas took over Gaza in 2006. And Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which the winner of the Egyptian elections came. One thing is becoming more apparent regarding the Arab Spring: Democratically inspired revolutions are a far cry from democratically run countries. Michael Berenhaus, Potomac

Letter to the Associated Press

Dear Editor, In "Shadowy al-Qaida-linked group claims Israel attack"(6/19/12), Associated Press reporter Ibrahim Barzak concludes his article by saying that, "Israeli construction on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state is at the heart of the current peacemaking deadlock." That is correct - if you are taking the Palestinian side. But reporters are supposed to be neutral. That is a key principle in the Journalistic code of ethics. The more objective reason of why there is a peacemaking deadlock is because one side - the Palestinian side - refuses to sit down and negotiate. Thank you, Michael Berenhaus

Letter to Washington Post

Dear Editor, In "Netanyahu faulted in 2010 flotilla raid" (June 14, 2012), the Washington Post reporter called the nine Turks who lost their lives in the flotilla incident "activists." Excuse me, but these were not your parents' activists! There were no placards, no banners, and certainly no kumbaya singing. These "activists" were knife-toting crowbar-swinging mercenaries who 'greeted' Israeli soldiers trying to board the ship peacefully by attempts to murder them. Whether the outcome would have been different if different decisions had been made by the Israeli government is moot. Rewriting history is inexcusable. Michael Berenhaus