Letter to The Washington Post

Dear Editors, In "Mideast peace talks set to begin" (7/29/13), The Washington Post published a picture that inadvertently exposes the real intentions of the Palestinians, as opposed to their ostensible willingness to negotiate with Israel. In the lower left hand picture on the second page of the article (see attached - second photo is close-up), a Palestinian woman clutches a photo of her soon-to-be-released prisoner son. In a less conspicuous part of the picture just to the left of the photo, the woman clutches another photo that shows all of Israel with a Palestinian flag running through it. What is typically reported by The Washington Post and most news organizations, not to mention the European Union and the United States, is that the Palestinians are looking for a homeland in Gaza, the West Bank, and the eastern part of Jerusalem. The picture published in the Post portrays a far different reality, one that is right out in the open for all to see, yet no one cares to acknowledge. The Palestinians are neither interested in nor prepared to accept a state in Gaza, the West Bank, and the eastern part of Jerusalem - they want the entire area including Israel. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. What more proof does the world need to see to recognize the true motivations of the Palestinian movement? Michael Berenhaus

Letter to Miami Herald

Dear Editor, In "Israel to vote on freeing Palestinian prisoners" (7/27/13), The Miami Herald states that "Israelis tend to view the prisoners as cold-blooded terrorists." According to the article, one such prisoner - "Omar Masoud and three accomplices broke into a European aid office in Gaza City, grabbed a young Israeli lawyer working there and stabbed him to death." Wouldn't most people, not just Israelis, "tend to view" such acts as those of "cold-blooded terrorists?" Michael Berenhaus

Letter to Washington Post

Dear Ms. Weymouth, When interviewing Israeli Finance Minister and centrist party leader Yair Lapid ["Lally Weymouth interviews Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid," June 23, 2013)], you premised a question on an assertion made by you that "nobody in the outside world believes” in the sincerity of Israeli Prime Minister and right-wing party leader Benjamin Netanyahu with respect to his call for a two-state solution. Can you cite a source for that assertion? In a world filled with brutal tyrants (now and in the past), have you ever before asserted to a senior government official that “nobody believes” his leader? And how would you expect Mr. Lapid to respond? Most people are aware that, for the purpose of trying to restart negotiations, Prime Minister Netanyahu was the first Israeli Prime Minister ever to halt settlement growth. Is there anything about this action that would lead you to believe otherwise than corroborating Netanyahu's desire for a two-state solution? In the past, you have echoed the Palestinian narrative that the Jewish settlements are the problem. Jewish settlements make up less than 5% of the West Bank, and there are no settlements in Gaza. Yet the rockets from Gaza continue to hit Israel. How do you reconcile that? I would also like to know why you have not addressed the rhinoceros in the corner – the absence of credible leadership on the Palestinian side with whom Israel can negotiate. The Palestinians have neither agreed on a single government nor acquiesced to rule of law under democratic government. Under these circumstances, what traction would an agreement have? At best, the interview lacks objectivity. I look forward to more accurate and fair portrayals of the conflict in the future. Sincerely, Michael Berenhaus http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lally-weymouth-interviews-israeli-finance-minister-yair-lapid/2013/06/20/4144efd8-d917-11e2-9df4-895344c13c30_story.html

Published in The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/egypt-has-never-been-a-democracy/2013/07/10/57c13b1e-e7da-11e2-818e-aa29e855f3ab_story.html Letter to the Editor Egypt has never been a democracy Wednesday, July 10, 5:33 PM The July 5 editorial “A response to Egypt” carried the secondary headline “The United States must withhold aid until the military restores democracy.” But how can Egypt’s military “restore” something that was never there? Apparently unbeknown to The Post, Egypt has never had a democracy. Democratically elected and democratically run governments are clearly not the same thing. One merely needs to look next door to Gaza to see how an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood operates. Hamas was democratically elected in its one and only election seven years ago, and there is no semblance of a democracy there. The election was plainly the vehicle for installing a totalitarian regime, which continues to this day. Former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi showed no signs of heading toward democracy. In his brief tenure, he replaced the heads of TV stations, fired leaders in the military and jailed dissenters, all in what seemed to be an effort to thwart future elections and democracy. If the military now chooses to “initiate” a democracy, it would be the ideal outcome and something that the world waits to see. Michael Berenhaus, Potomac