Left and right on Israel - The Jewish Standard

Shammai Engelmayer has written his periodic attack on the Christian right (“The threat from the Christian right,” June 20) with special emphasis on the Hagees, who are strong supporters of Israel. He points out the meaningless dangers of hearing Christmas carols and seeing nativity scenes in public places. None of these dangers have affected my Jewishness or lack of Jewishness. I take full responsibility. And I confess that I enjoy seeing my neighbors’ Christmas decorations in the long winter nights.

Once again, the Presbyterian leadership have attacked and delegitimized Israel. (“Kafka in the Motor City,” June 27). This year, the Christian left has managed to pass the infamous BDS decree. This is a real danger to Israel and the Jewish people.

I may be wrong, but I have never read an article by Shammai Engelmayer on the dangers of the Christian left. Hagee and his group support the state of Israel politically and financially. The Presbyterians maliciously do the opposite. Take your pick.

Last week, Rabbi Neal Borovitz voiced his distress with the Presbyterians’ actions (“A view from the pew,” July 4). His advice is not to disengage but to work for greater engagement with our non-Jewish neighbors. Good advice, but his advice is really for disengagement, not engagement. By purposely not recognizing and identifying that we have good and loyal supporters in the Christian community, he is effectively disengaging from them. Yes, engage with others but why shun our supporters? We do not have that many friends.

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