Reponse to outrageous letter in Arutz Sheva

via e-mail / Arutz Sheva | 29 November 2003 | Yossi Feldman

[anotherview]

Shalom,

I was shocked to read the attached letter. Is this the way people want to help Israel ? By describing untruth... It is true that many people are unemployed at the moment but no one is going starving to school.

Some families do not know the order of priorities maybe they try to earn money by gambling while the family need the money for necessities. Maybe some families even starve , but to say " poverty all around me " is a very big lie. I don't like it when people try to make us look miserable .

People do need to help Israel out of solidarity when European countries try to ban Israeli products. They must help Israel by denouncing the false accusations and the antisemitic hatred published by islamic christian Europe , but not by pity.

Have a nice weekend.

Yossi

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2. AN EMAIL LETTER TO HELP ISRAEL
A copy of a letter received by Arutz-7 this week:

"I came back from Israel 2 weeks ago after not having visited in 7 years. I was shocked by the poverty all around me - the closed shops and restaurants in downtown Tel Aviv, the unemployment, the stories of hunger and hopelessness.

"Living in the Diaspora, we all have the power to help. "Every time you go to the supermarket, buy at least one Israeli product (they have pickles, cheeses, olives, sauces, soups, chocolates, cookies, candy, tehina, chumous, ready salads and dips, pretzels etc.).

There are 200,000 Jews in Canada. If everyone bought an Israeli product every 2 weeks, that would be around $200,000 making it to the desperate economy every few weeks just from Canada. If the idea caught on with American Jews, that could be $5.2 million every couple of weeks.

"So, even if it you don't need it, if it is more expensive than a Canadian or American product, if it looks less appetizing than its North American counterpart, BUY IT . Help Israel. Tell all your friends.

Jewish kids are going to school hungry. The economy is in shambles. Factories are closing. There are boycotts of Israeli products in Europe.

You can make a difference. Buy blue and white. Tell all your friends.

[anotherview]

The original letter annoyed me terribly, but with me visiting family in Florida and taking time blissfully away from the computer I didn't get a chance to write a response. Yossi Feldman's response is excellent and deserves to be seen.

Israel is neither poor nor desperate. Yes, the economy is just coming out of recession. People are unemployed. (Do you think I chose to work in America because things were brilliant back in Israel?) However, the sort of blatant exaggeration and misrepresentation in the letter is nothing short of amazing.

I'm all for buying Israeli. By all means, do so. There are truly fantastic Israeli products so there is no need to choose unappetizing ones or overpriced ones. I just hate to see the sort of lies spread about Israel in the original letter, and it bothers me that the letter got published so widely.

[anotherview]

ping

[anotherview]

Arutz Sheva is extremist. The Jerusalem Post is moderate and mainstream. The idea that A7 is under investigation is somehow a threat to The Jerusalem Post is ludicrous.

Oh, and your defense of A7 doesn't change the fact that the letter they published is absolute crap and needed to be refuted. One Canadian came away with a very distorted view of Israel and they published his letter without comment. Why?

[FreeReporting]

Arutz7.... THE ONLY VOICE OF THE ISRAELI PEOPLE WHO WON'T SURRENDER ISRAEL TO THE ARABS?

If you lived in Israel Yehuda you would know that this is not true. Listen online to any popular radio station and you will find all points of view represented. Given that your Hebrew is colloquial listen online to chat radio like http://l03.fm for instance. You can phone in and give your point of view and debate it with others who feel equally ardent.