Let us clearly understand the significance of Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo last week on the subject of Jewish settlements in the West Bank – the U.S. president had to travel to Egypt (Mitzrayim) to utter the same words as Pharoah: “No more Jewish children!”
Harold Medjuck

U.S. President Barack Obama chose the failed route of “two states for two Peoples” in his Cairo speech last week, which can only bring the same results as past attempts. No state can exist by declaration only. It needs an economy, a functioning government and stability. None of that exists for the Palestinians in the disputed territories. Numerous past declarations and photo-ops did not create a functioning entity.
Also, Obama’s insistence that settlements are the main obstacle to peace, while not saying a word about Palestinian terror and hate – the main reason for the current stalemate – is puzzling, to say the least.
Since 1993 and the signing of the Oslo accords, no progress toward peace has been made on the Palestinian side. Israel gave the Palestinians arms and control over most of the disputed territories and received terror in return, the clear message being the war will intensify until Israel is eliminated.
Is Obama unaware of recent history? Are settlements the main obstacle? UN Security Council Resolution 242, which stipulates Israel’s “right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries,” has been all but forgotten.
Sadly, Obama is taking the wrong path and not tackling the real issues in the Middle East.
Ramy Dishy
Thornhill, Ont.

The nations of the world are obsessed that Israel relinquish its sovereignty over all of Jerusalem (“Partition of Jerusalem guarantees chaos,” CJN Toronto, May 28). Have they not an iota of decency? I can’t think of a more fundamental ethic than recognizing and appreciating the good someone does to you (Hakarat Hatov) and, by extension, thanking the Creator for His beneficence.
The Hebrew Bible, in contrast to the New Testament and Qur’an, is unique in stressing this ethic. Christians and Muslims – whose religions, particularly Islam, are indebted to the mother religion, Judaism – begrudge Jews sovereignty over Jerusalem when they have their holy cities of Rome and Mecca. Just as the more than 100 countries whose official or dominant religions are Christianity or Islam are irrationally preoccupied with the borders of the tiny Jewish state.
Jacob Mendlovic
Toronto

June 6 marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day – the greatest Allied battle of World War II.
Three important documentaries tell of the sacrifice and heroism of Canadians on D-Day. The War Amps Military Heritage Series D-Day: The Story of the Canadian Assault Troops, tells of the achievements of Canadians who got farther inland on D-Day than any of the other forces in Normandy; Operation Charnwood: The Canadian Battle for Caen details the Canadian advance inland following the D-Day invasion; and Take No Prisoners: The Nazi SS in Normandy is a chilling account of the execution of more than 130 Canadian soldiers by the Nazi SS following the Normandy invasion.
To commemorate this anniversary, members of War Amps Operation Legacy have donated these documentaries to libraries across Canada. They are also available at a cost-recovery price from the War Amps. For more information, visit www.waramps.ca.
Jennifer Fredenburgh
War Amps Operation Legacy member
Brantford, Ont.

A film crew that is making a documentary to be broadcast next year by Radio Canada is seeking former female forced labourers who worked in the Auschwitz Union Metallindustrie munitions factory. The women were part of the Union kommando in December 1944.
On Dec. 12, 1944, they created a booklet in the shape of a heart for the 20th birthday of their workmate, Fania Landau. They each signed the booklet and wrote birthday messages to her. At the time, the women would have been known by the following first names or nicknames: Berta; Cesia; Eva; Fela; Giza (or Gizela); Gûsia (or Guta); Hanka; Halinka; Hélène; Irena; Mala; Mira; Mina; Rachela; Ruth; and Tania (or Tonia).
Further information about these women and our film can be found at http://heart-of-auschwitz.blogspot.com or by calling Ad Hoc Films at 514-529-2198, or e-mailing [email protected].
Catherine Pelchat
Ad Hoc Films
Montreal