Letters to the Editor Clearing the Record

Folly of Palestinian cause

Daoud Kuttab's op-ed "Pointless punishment in Gaza" (Friday) continues the folly that has plagued the Palestinian cause for nearly a century.

Israel should "deal politically" with Hamas, he says, an organization that denies Israel's right to exist, calls for its destruction, and eschews any solution save violence ("There is no solution ... except through jihad"). He bemoans the loss of civilian life, ignoring that Hamas deliberately positions its rocket launchers in heavily populated areas.

Kuttab calls for Israel's agreement to a Palestinian state, forgetting that it already did so, in 1947, when the former British Mandate was divided by the United Nations into Jewish and Arab states. The Israelis accepted that outcome, but Palestinians started a war, intending to destroy Israel and all its occupants. That is still their intent, one that never should be "condoned by the international community."

Tony Winchester, Greenville, Del.

What might have been

Daoud Kuttab evokes the image of Jews celebrating the 1947 U.N. resolution that created a Jewish state in Israel, while today seeking to deny Palestinians similar recognition. However, he omits the fact that the 1947 resolution also created a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish one. Imagine how many deaths and how much destruction would have been avoided over the past 65 years had the Palestinians only celebrated the resolution as did the Jews, with cheers rather than guns.

Ken Rosenberg, Rydal, Krosenberg47@comcast.net

Conditions for peace

Trudy Rubin hails "moderate" Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and questions Israel's not doing more to negotiate a peace plan with him ("The forgotten man: Abbas," Sunday).

According to Rubin, Abbas supports talks on a two-state solution. Yet, after his demands for a total settlement freeze were met by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he still refused to negotiate until the very end of the 10-month freeze, thereby ensuring failure.

Rubin claims that Abbas recognizes Israel. While he speaks in such terms in English to satisfy the West, in Arabic he insists that all the land "from river to sea" is Palestinian. Palestinian Authority maps conspicuously omit Israel, and anti-Israel and anti-Semitic vitriol is spewed daily in P.A.-controlled mosques and newspapers. Schools, summer camps, and public squares are named after suicide bombers.

There will be peace and a Palestinian state when the Palestinians and their supporters actually accept the presence of a Jewish state.

Richard Lowe, Oreland

Time to face pension crisis

Gov. Corbett's trouble with the state pension system is not entirely his fault ("Report: Pa. must change on pensions," Nov. 27). It started long ago with Gov. Tom Ridge not funding the plan sufficiently, and that continued with Gov. Ed Rendell. Most of the school districts followed the state's lead and did not make full payments either.

If you do not pay your bills, sooner or later those bills will catch up to you. That day has come for the state with regard to the teacher and state employee pension funds. The employees have been paying into the system as required. In fact, their contribution amounts have increased over the years.

G.J. McCarron, Swarthmore, gjmc1@verizon.net

If Congress caps deductions

In recent days, some Republicans have made noises indicating that they are willing to raise taxes on the wealthy to help solve the budget crisis ("Runyan, Meehan rethink pledge," Wednesday). However, they still seem to be opposed to the idea of raising marginal rates and instead support raising revenue by capping deductions. That would be a mistake.

One of the largest deductions used by the rich is charitable giving. This giving supports not-for-profits, including universities, hospitals, and religious organizations. That sector makes up more than 5 percent of the gross domestic product of the economy, and is thus an important engine for economic growth.

Since charitable contributions are tax deductible, the cost of giving to charities is dependent on the marginal tax rate. When marginal tax rates go up, charitable giving goes up because the perceived "cost of giving" goes down. Capping deductions would have the opposite effect, as there would be less tax advantage to giving to charity.

Warren Kruger, Abington, Warren.Kruger@fccc.edu

What's a fair share?

About half of all American citizens pay absolutely no federal income taxes, but they are upset because the half that pay 100 percent of the taxes are not paying their fair share. What, then, does a fair share look like?

Maynard Honesty, Chesterbrook

Facing the climate cliff

Because of the fiscal cliff, politicians insist that we drastically cut federal spending on schools, infrastructure, Medicaid, and renewable energy. I am much more worried about the effects of empty education, worsening health, a rotting infrastructure, and, especially, more disasters like Hurricane Sandy.

However, much more dangerous than the fiscal cliff is the climate cliff we are facing. Sandy, drastic droughts, unheard-of floods in Vermont, and disasters in Russia, Pakistan, and Africa warn us that the scorching of our planet does not wait for our "normal" political paralysis to end.

We must end subsidies for profit-swollen, power-hungry Big Carbon, and transfer those subsidies to renewable energies. We must legislate a serious fee for producing carbon fuels and channel its income to making sure that working families and the poor do not suffer from higher carbon costs. If we go over the climate cliff now, our grandchildren will live in misery and suffering.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Philadelphia, awaskow@theshalomcenter.org