04 Feb Speak Your Vues
DEAL OF THE CENTURY
Dear Editor:
“Within the ‘Deal Of The Century’ the Trump Administration’s reported proposal to create a tunnel corridor linking Hamas-run Gaza to the Palestinian Authority-run territories would pose an extreme danger to Israel’s security,” stated Moshe Phillips, Herut North America’s national director. “The creation of a tunnel highway and railway linking the Gaza Strip to those parts of Judea-Samaria that are controlled by the Palestinian Authority would slice across Israel’s middle and would connect and thereby significantly strengthen the potential military capacity of these two perennially hostile anti-Israel regimes.”
Herut North America is a pro-Israel movement that stands for Jewish sovereignty in all the Land of Israel, human rights, and Zionist education.
Herut believes that it should be clear that the tunnel aspect of the Trump team’s “Deal Of The Century” proposal would critically endanger Israeli civilians.
“Hamas is already taking advantage of every current opportunity to send terrorists from Gaza into Judea-Samaria [AKA “the West Bank”], so just imagine what Hamas would do if it is given a highway and railway tunnel system through which it could send whatever it wants,” says Herut’s Phillips. “If Israel tried to interfere with Palestinian Arabs using that corridor, it would become the subject of severe international condemnation. The United Nations would almost surely threaten sanctions as would the European Union. This deal, if implemented as presented, will turn into a nightmare of criticism and pressure, and will effectively tie Israel’s hands in such a way that Islamic terrorists will be able to launch attack after attack at will.”
“If Hamas starts sending camouflaged truckloads of missiles through the tunnel corridor, will American inspectors be on hand to intervene? Would the war-weary American public accept the stationing of U.S. armed forces in such a hostile situation?” asks Moshe Phillips.
This deal would reduce Israel to approximately nine miles wide—virtually indefensible—as it was before the 1967 Six Day War. Specifically, a map released by the White House earlier today seems to show the area under Israeli control near Netanya, north of Tel Aviv as it was before the 1967 war. Israel’s major cities and Ben Gurion Airport would be within easy rocket range of a Palestinian terrorist army—an unprecedented danger should this deal be implemented and Israel allows construction of a transportation tunnel into and out of Gaza to Judea-Samaria.
“The Herut movement calls on all pro-Israel Americans to speak out now against the idea of the tunnel in this deal to your senators and members of congress,” says Phillips.Editor’s Note: It is very difficult to work with a party that will reject peace.It important for America to prove this to the world. Hence this peace plan, which will never be approved.
PERSONAL ACCOUNT FROM HOLOCAUST
Dear Editor:
To mark the Holocaust, which resulted in the death of 6 millions Jews during WWII, I enclose memoirs of a small Jewish boy who spent almost a year in the city occupied by fascists. I hope you will consider them for publication.
I come from a family of Mountain Jews of the North Caucasus and was born in 1935 in the town of Zaysan in Kazakhstan where Black Irtysh River flows into Lake Zaysan at the border with China. I was the oldest among four children. My father, Yakov Prizov, a career officer in the Russian border troops, was on active duty as the commander of a border patrol and was defending the Soviet border from attacks by the then very active Central Asian gangs. According to the stories and reminiscences of my mother, the gangs would launch their raids from China and were raising havoc all along the border line, robbing and killing everyone who was helping the new Soviet government, and then seeking refuge from reprisal in Chinese territory. I will always remember my mother’s story of a horrible and atrocious Central Asian gang raid on a nearby border patrol post, where my dad’s friend was serving: the bandits captured his patrol, sliced up everyone, including the commander. They left his wife half-dead on the side of the road. My dad came to help, but too late, because the bandits had managed to flee over the Chinese border. But my dad did succeed in rescuing the half-dead woman and delivering her to his post.
Despite all standing orders, my father gathered his men (12 border troops and one machine gun), illegally crossed the Chinese border, and found the hideout of the head bandit and his henchmen. My dad killed everyone but the chief, whom he took prisoner, dragged back to the post, and put him in a pit. One night, the distraught wife of my dad’s comrade, who was violated by the captured bandit, silently took a rifle off the wall of my parents’ bedroom, went to the pit where her attacker was confined, and killed him point blank. In the morning my dad was arrested and threatened with a court martial, because the top gangster was an important bargaining chip.
Right away the anguished widow of the dead officer went to Moscow to meet with Voroshilov, one of the leaders of the Soviet Government, and asked him to pardon my father, because she killed the gangster and she was the only guilty one. My dad was vindicated, and he also got a medal and a prize (a motorcycle) for his valor. According to my Mom, our border post was visited by moviemakers and this episode was used as part of the well known film “The Thirteen”.
In 1939 as a brave border trooper, my dad was assigned to serve as commander of a border post in Poland, in the area, where German and Soviet troops were standing face to face. Our house was only 2 kilometers from the border line.
At 4:00 AM June 22 1941 – I heard soldiers shouting outside – “Comrade Commander, this is war!” Then there came howling, explosions, and roar of air attacks. My father kissed all of us and left for the border post. That was the last time when we saw him or heard of him. My mother was left with 4 children, me being only 6 years, was the oldest. My half sister Alisa Prizova age 15, from my dad’s first marriage, was also staying with us. We were bundled up, put in horse carts, and taken away to the woods. On the carts we moved to east, accompanied by hundreds of refugees and retreating, wounded, and exhausted Red Army soldiers, who were suffering from lack of food, water, and clothing. Then we were put in boxcars on a freight train and we moved further to the east. There were many Nazi air raids, and we all had to jump out of the box cars and hide in the woods – I was also there, I got lost many times, but my mother always found me and we kept on moving. At one of the evacuation centers Alisa left us to stay with her biological mother, who lived in the village of Bogdanovka transformed at that time into the Soviet style kibutz and whose inhabitants were exclusively Jews. My mother with four little children decided to go to her relatives to the North Caucasus, the region with a large population of Mountain Jews.
By early 1942 we reached the small town Klukhori (Mikoyan Shahar) located in the gorge of the North Caucasus Teberda River, where most of the inhabitants were Karachais and Cirkessians. My Mom’s close relatives lived in the village of Zelenchukskaya some 40 km from Klukhori.
As the family of a border troop’s officer who had died heroically in the war, we were given an apartment and pension in Mikoyan Shakhar. The town was frequently subjected to German air raids and bombings and we often took refuge in the narrow gorge of the Teberda river. There were rumors that the Nazis were coming close. Many people fled for Georgia across the Klukhori Pass. Mom and her four children couldn’t risk this because of the danger of crossing the ice. She decided to move to her relatives’ place in the village of Zelenchukskaya for a while. Later on we decided to go back to our town. On the way we stopped for several days at a Karachai village (aul) about 10 km from Mikoyan Shakhar with my aunt’s friends. The village was located high above the gorge and from there we could see the Teberda River and roads on both sides. One day we saw columns of tanks and trucks packed with German soldiers and motorcycles driving along the sides of the gorge in the direction of Mikoyan Shakhar. My Mom got very scared, because there were rumors that the Nazis were killing Jews.
One day at the evening time my Mom and I walked down to the river to fetch water. On the way we suddenly saw a local with a white polizei armband. Mom got very scared. Having seen a young woman (at the time Mom was 23) whose dress differ very much from the traditional Karachai woman’s dress, the polizei approached us and asked us where we were staying. We weren’t far from our place, but Mom caught on and said that the house where we lived was at the center of the village near the mosque. After getting back home, Mom told our hosts about it. To this day we are still profoundly grateful to this family of Karachais, who rescued us at risk to their own lives and the lives of their families. They put us in three woven baskets and lowered us down on ropes into the gorge, and they hid my Mom with my infant sister in the woods. That night I heard dogs barking and soldiers shouting “Jew! Jew!”. But they didn’t find us. Early in the morning our host’s son led us to a path which took us to a rope bridge across the Teberda River on the edge of Mikoyan Shakhar market place. We couldn’t get back to our own place. We stopped and stayed with friends in a barracks at the outskirts of the town. My Mom, after gathering up her clothes, decided to visit the nearby villages in order to trade them for food for her children.
In the meantime, the German commandant had signs posted all over town ordering all residents of the town to register. I’d already gotten used to seeing lines of men and women with yellow stars on their chests being driven by German soldiers somewhere outside the town. Mom said that we might get arrested too. The deadline for registration was drawing near. People also said that Zonder Command Group members had come to determine people’s races. At that point Mom decided to take a risk. She dressed me up in a Circassian costume with spurs, hat, coat, and dagger and transformed me into a hard-core Circassian. We went to the German commandant’s office. We were in luck, because the Gestapo chief in town was a Circassian. After seeing us in line and me in Circassian dress, he took me in his arms to his office, where other officers were sitting. “Gentlemen, here we have a real rough rider, who will kill Bolsheviks and free us from the Russians.” He sat me down on his desk, gave me chocolate, and told my Mom, who was standing by the door: “Ma’am, go to Office Number so and so. They’ll take care of you real quick. I’ll ask for you”. Later Mom said that an elderly woman doctor (apparently from the Zonder Command) started asking her questions about her ancestry and nationality. Mom told her that she was a Christian Armenian. After a while, they issued us a German passport that allowed us to travel through the occupation zone. As we were leaving the commandant’s office, my Mom whispered “We’re saved”. The passport allowed us to travel freely to the village of Zelenchukskaya where Mom’s sister lived. By that time my younger brother had died in a bombing raid and there were only three of us left. Mom and her infant went to Zelenchukskaya, while my sister and I were left in the care of a Russian girl, who lived in a barracks, worked in a German canteen in the daytime, and serviced German officers at night. Before the German officers came, she would ask me and my sister to hide under the bed on which she entertained the German officers. But my Mom was very grateful to her because she never betrayed us to the Germans, fed us, and helped us survive.
Soon my Mom came back and we all moved to my aunt’s place in Zelenchukskaya. My Mom’s sister had five children and we stayed together with our grandfather and grandmother, who every night preyed the God to safe us. Every day we were expecting arrests and at night all children were fully dressed and were hidden in cellars of our good friends – the village was much larger than Mikoyan Shakhar. We decided that if we were caught we would die together. But we were lucky – in the spring of ’43 the partisans liberated Zelenchukskaya, and I personally witnessed how they raised the Red Flag on the German commandant’s building. That’s how our occupation ended. We went back to Mikoyan Shakhar and got our apartment back and a pension.
In winter of 1943 we were all eyewitnesses to the deportation of the local Karachais to the East, to Siberia, for treason. Trucks full of Russian soldiers blocked off the streets of Mikoyan Shakhar. All the inhabitants of the nearby villages (auls), including women, old men, and children with a handful of belongings were driven to the square of the little town. The trucks were filled with screaming women and crying children, old and young men and moved to the nearby railway stations for subsequent deportation to Siberia. This was a horrible spectacle for us children (I was 8 at the time), my Mom and the locals to see ghost villages, plundered homes, and abandoned livestock and property – this was a real hell.
My half-sister Alisa rejoined us only in late summer of 1943 when we were liberated from German Nazis, and she told us the horrible story about the massacre in the village of Bogdanovka and what happed to her. In summer 1942 Boganovka was occupied by German troops and in September 1942 with the help of Russian local polizei the Nazis committed one of the worst atrocity of the World War II . They rounded up the entire population of the village, gave them shovels, and forced them to dig a grave on the outskirts of Bogdanovka. My half-sister Alisa Prizov was together with 19 members and relatives of my father’s first family – her mother, sisters and brother. They walked under the convoy towards the grave. Suddenly she comprehended what was going to happen. In desperation she broke away from the line and rushed towards a German officer – I am not a Jew! Please, don’t kill me – she cried. The German officer was stunned by the beauty of the girl, hesitated a little and then took her by her long hair and threw her on the open truck. Through the openings of the truck the scared girl witnessed the entire execution and saw her mother, her brothers and sister stretching their hands in her direction and calling her to join them in grave. The German soldiers and Russian polizei made the people stand along the edge of the pit and killed all of them in cold blood. A total of 474 people were ruthlessly killed and buried almost alive in Bogdanovka, including men, women and children. Alisa was the only sole witness of the entire population of the village who like a miracle survived this execution and who in 1964 testified at the open trial of arrested Russian polizei who took part in the massacre (see “Stavropolskaya Pravda”, 1964). In 1995 my half sister Alisa Prizov immigrated to the USA, and in February 2014 she died and was buried according to Jewish tradition on the Staten Island Jewish cemetery.
Thanks
YURI
Editor’s Note: Thanks for sharing.
TYPICAL POLITICS
Dear Editor:
It is time to end the hoaxes against President Trump!! For the past 3 years, this nation has been put through one investigation after another. Time after time the investigations into Trump have proven to be a waste of money and resources. Americans don’t need investigations into how the Trump administration allotted Puerto Rico’s hurricane relief money or if Trump colluded in any election, when clearly he did not. Americans want their representatives’ to focus on issues like; lowering prescription drugs, better healthcare, lowering taxes, immigration reform, criminal justice reform, paid family leave and etc. While the Democrats continue their crazy investigations, President Trump and Republicans are continuing to approve Constitutionalists judges, signing trade deals, advancing America’s national security interests in Space, and etc. President Trump labels the current Democrats as the “Do-Nothing” Democrats, and that is exactly what they are. Democrats claim that President Trump is a national security threat, but since when do we delay to send articles of impeachment for 33 days for a “national security threat”. On the contrary, it’s Democrats that are the national security threat!! Imagine if there was an actual national security threat, I would sure not want Democrats to be the ones in charge. Democrats at the Impeachment hearings, passionately argued that because of precedent, there was an obligation for witnesses, but since when do Democrats care about precedent? Ask Adam Schiff about precedent, his face might redden! Additionally, it is also precedent that a trial that has no crime from the onset doesn’t have witnesses, as Alan Dershowitz said. We are in an election year and the only ones that are colluding in an election or are investigating their political opponents are the Democrats. It is pretty ironic that the one thing that Democrats and Putin have in common is that they both despise their political opponents. Maybe there’s been collusion??
Sincerely,
Donny Simcha GEditor’s Note: Interesting point, but nothing will change.
BEWARE SIX HOUR CHEESE
Dear Editor:
An OU certified Pizza Shop opened recently on Nostrand Ave. They put Parmesan cheese on many dishes (even when my wife specifically said not to and it was so noted on her order receipt).There is no reminder in the store that hard cheeses require waiting before fleishigs.
Isn’t this a Michshol?
Yitzchak Shmuel A
Editor’s Note: There are two questions. Is the cheese not aged? Is the cheese cooked into the food? If yes to either, then there is no michshol.
TREAT OTHERS PROPERLY
Dear Editor:
I want to use this letter to “talk to” my fellow males out there about how many times that so many of us hurt, abuse, harass, and otherwise use women so deeply and profoundly in our relationships with them to the point where we traumatize them for life resulting in them needing life-long therapy to try to feel better about themselves.
Sincerely,
Stewart B. E
Editor’s Note: You sound like you have issues. Why are you responsible for other people’s moronic behavior? Unless you have these issues also, then you need to go for help.
IS THAT HUMOROUS
Dear Editor:
I enjoy Jewish Vues with its very unique content. However, this past week I was disgusted when my young daughter volunteered to read Country Yossi’s Golden Rat joke. She didn’t understand the punch line. I couldn’t believe it and had to explain the meaning of that lousy joke. We Jews don’t like seeing such talk in Arab media, seen by MEMRI CAMERA etc. But you think this is ok?
Sincerely,
Gideon HEditor’s Note: It depends in what context it is written. Last I checked it is a humor column.
VOTE CHAIM DEUTSCH FOR CONGRESS
Dear Editor:
Jewish ritual slaughter constitutes cruelty to animals, and is therefore banned. Circumcision must not be done on minors, so they can give their consent as adults when they reach the age of 18. All schools, including private religious institutions, must teach a significant number of hours required for secular subjects. If this reduces or eliminates the time available for teaching religious classes, so be it. The State of Israel is an occupying force which practices apartheid. It must return to pre-1967 borders by surrendering all occupied territory. BDS sanctions are just. Religious exemptions for any discrimination are invalid in all cases, and proprietors can be sued in civil court for violating customers’ rights.
Each of the above are either already in practice in parts of the world, or are ideas pushed by progressive liberal political parties. Do you think that can never happen here in the United States?
We had a respite after World War II. We enjoyed religious freedoms and unparalleled growth of Torah learning and our way of life. We are freer now to pursue our beliefs than at any other time in history. Yet we are still in exile. It may be the very end of a long and bitter galus, and we may seem relatively free right now. However in my 50 plus years I have witnessed the moral fabric of our society erode. Things which were taboo only 25 years ago are openly flaunted. The rise of the World Wide Web has given voice to the lowest common denominator. The net result is that extremists on the left as well as the right are having more influence as their noise increases. We can no longer sit back and hope for the best. We must do our hishtadlus without delay or apathy. What can you do?
My wife and I have personally known Chaim Deutsch for over 30 years. He quickly rose to fame as the most responsive New York City Councilman (D-48). His office is renown for answering the phone by the second ring, and staying on top of constituent issues through resolution. I have witnessed him personally getting involved to champion for what he believes is right, if not popular. His fellow politicians respect his integrity, regardless of whether or not they agree with his positions.
Term limits prevent Chaim from running for the New York City Council again. He has chosen to run for Congress (NY-9). His current competitor was nearly unseated in the last election, and is uniquely vulnerable. The seat is also being sought by a candidate endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, at the heart of the extreme liberal movement and calling themselves “Democratic Socialists”. It is my personal belief that given the challenge from the right and from the left, the current Congressperson will be unseated. That seat will go to someone who will help steer the Democrats to one extreme or the other. It will be farther to the left, or to Chaim, who has the best chance of winning the Democratic Primary to be held this June 23rd, 2020. That is if and only if his core constituency turns out in real numbers to the polls. There were 30,552 votes cast in the 2018 Congressional Democratic primary. 16,000 votes will likely win this upcoming primary. Historically whoever wins the Democratic Primary wins the General Election.
We can take this seat if we simply show up and vote. Chaim has the backing of the Asian community, the Russian community, and others. Will he have the active support of the Jewish community on primary day? Are we even registered to vote where it counts? The only way you can be eligible to vote in the Democratic primary (which is all that matters) is to register as a Democrat. The deadline is February 14th. You can still vote for anyone in the General Election, and you should do everything you can to show up and to vote. Every single vote counts. If you can not show up on election day, make sure to send in an absentee ballot. I understand having strong objections to registering with a political party which espouses ideas antithetical to our values. But these are critical times in the history of this country. This is our best chance to put someone who does represent our values in office. Chaim has demonstrated backbone and courage over and again, and he will do great things in the House of Representatives.The last race for the 9th District was won by 1075 votes, or less than four percent. Incidentally, the race for Queens DA was won by only 60 votes out of 91,000 (including absentee and affidavit ballots). The progressive candidate, Tiffany Cabán, nearly beat Melinda Katz. The point is that the progressives led by Bernie Sanders and AOC are gaining ground, and could soon overtake enough seats in Congress to do incredible damage to our way of life. It your duty to cast your vote in the upcoming Democratic primary on June 23rd to help support the candidate who will fight for our values.
Victor SEditor’s Note: Your words sound like they come from the heart. Thanks.
SIMCHA FELDER AT WORK
Dear Editor:
State Senator Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) announced today that he has been selected by Democratic Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins to serve as Chairperson of the Senate Administrative Regulations Review Commission, or ARRC.
Carrying the force of law, State agency regulations affect business, industry and local governments. The ARRC is responsible for monitoring the rules and regulatory actions of all State agencies to ensure their efficacy and legality. Effectively acting as the legislature’s watchdog, this appointment puts Senator Felder in a powerful position to combat regulations that hinder the economic growth and environmental health of communities, businesses and all New Yorkers.
“I’m humbled and honored to join the Senate leadership team as Chair of the Senate Administrative Regulations Review Commission, and I thank Leader Stewart-Cousins for placing her confidence in me. My goal as Chair of the Commission is to provide substantive results for New Yorkers that strengthen the future of our state,” said Senator Felder.
Senator Felder will sit on five additional committees including:
Social Services Committee
Children and Families Committee
Budget and Revenue Committee
Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business Committee
Domestic Animal Welfare Committee
“It’s good to be back in a strong position to advocate on behalf of the hard working men, women and families of New York. I look forward to working with my colleagues and improving the day to day lives of the people we serve,” concluded Senator Felder.
Editor’s Note: Keep up the good work, Simcha.
WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION
Dear Editor:
For decades the World Zionist Organization (WZO) has worked to strengthen the safety and security needs of at-risk Jewish communities outside of Israel, but more is urgently needed. In the aftermath of attacks and attempted terrorist attacks on synagogues and Jewish targets in New York, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Poway, Halle, Germany, and in many other communities, it is time for the WZO to create new programs to directly help Jews worldwide to protect their communities.
At the 38th World Zionist Congress (WZC) taking place in Jerusalem, in October 2020, the World Herut movement will propose a resolution for WZO to allocate funds, resources and programming for the recruitment, training and deployment of security advisers to assist local synagogues, Jewish schools, and community centers in evaluating premise security and preventing violent physical attacks.
The Herut resolution calls on experienced Israel security experts and anti-terrorism specialists to be sent to various U.S. and European cities and will focus on assisting Jewish communities with developing training programs, creating security plans, and evaluating security needs.
Herut leaders see the Israeli security experts working for six months to two years per assignment based on the shaliach (Israeli emissary) model the WZO already utilizes.
Herut Zionists candidates in the current U.S. based WZC elections have been the motivators for this Herut initiative.
The more delegates Herut Zionists have in the next WZC election will directly impact the success of this resolution.
Herut is an international movement for Zionist pride and education and is dedicated to the ideals of pre-World War Two Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky and more about Herut can be found at https://www.voteherut2020.
com /Moshe P
Editor’s Note: There are different parties to vote for in the WZO. Everyone should do research for whom they should vote.
DANGEROUS STREETS
Dear Editor:
We have a serious problem of dangerous streets in our area. In the last month alone, two frum pedestrians were killed in Boro Park, hit by motor vehicles, one man and one woman. Children have been hit by cars and trucks (see boropark24.com and elsewhere for coverage). Cyclists from our community have been killed in recent years, such as Chaim Miller, Yisroel Schwartz of Novominsker yeshiva, and Moshe Wolpin, of Stolin, Hy”d. And that is just a partial, recent list.
We need a comprehensive program to tame the dangerous streets, to slow down and hold accountable the dangerous cars and drivers that cause so much death, injury and destruction (may Hashem protect us).
Experts recommend special thought out measures to slow traffic and calm the streets.
But instead of joining such efforts, some of our officials have stood for a dangerous status quo. Instead of increasing penalties for dangerous drivers, they have been MIA, one even trying to raise the speed limits on a main local thoroughfare. One held up speed cameras near schools for months
Shameful.
Now, one of them is trying to pose as a safety champion by introducing a mandatory helmet bill. However, mandating helmets to address dangerous roads and drivers is like mandating bulletproof vests to address an increase in shootings and stabbings, G-d forbid. In both cases, the root cause of the problem has not been addressed, and the burden has been placed on victims, rather than on perpetrators. The proper course of action, to attack and remove the causes of the danger, has not been chosen.
The Senator is calling his bill ‘2 wheels, 1 rule’. But his proposal is faulty, since people, such as Chaim Miller Hy”d, and others, have been killed while cycling, despite wearing helmets. Also, to be consistent, Senator Felder should introduce a ‘2 feet, 1 rule’ bill, that everyone with two feet, including, pedestrians, and car drivers, must wear a helmet, since actions to tame the dangerous streets are lacking.
It is high time for some real action to make our streets safer, rather than grandstanding with superficial, inadequate proposals that don’t address the root cause of the danger. The people do not want to be fooled any longer.
Sincerely,
Street traveler
Editor’s Note: It seems like every time something is done it is seen as a money grab for the city. Zero vision is becoming zero miles an hour. 15 MPH in school zones is ridiculous. It causes more road rage since no one gets anywhere. It also causes more pollution.
SPEED LIMIT
Dear Editor:
What is going on? We have places where you cannot travel faster than 15 mph. Does that mean bicycles will be ticketed?
HK
Editor’s Note: If you run and jog faster than 15mph you will be ticketed and fined Welcome to De Blassio ideas.