Israel, terrorism and settlements; unnecessary medical care; wasting taxpayer money

Many are suffering

Re “Why glorify the murderers?” Opinion, March 17

It is beyond sad that Ron Kehrmann, Yossi Mendelevich and Yossi Zur lost their precious children in a suicide bombing attack.

It is also regrettable that Op-Ed articles are written that reduce Palestinian terror dynamics to those of brainwashing and hateful propaganda, which are indeed mediums of demonization.

It would be helpful for writers to acknowledge that the Palestinian people have been subject to decades of humiliations, degradations, misappropriated property and episodic and overwhelming military and police reprisals -- and that this undoubtedly contributes to the Palestinian demonization of Jews and Israel.

And, yes, where are the Palestinian voices condemning the heinous acts and valorizations of violence and terror?

Loren Woodson
Santa Monica

Unsettled by settlements

Re “Stumbling over settlements,” Editorial, March 16

Your editorial illustrates one of the reasons that finding peace between Israel and the Palestinians is so elusive.

Over the years, while Israel has continued to colonize the West Bank and East Jerusalem, several U.S. presidents have condemned settlement expansion while continuing to indirectly underwrite it.

The Israelis understand that American politics are such that it’s unlikely Israel will suffer any negative long-term consequences as a result of this policy.

It’s high time for a U.S. administration to show the Israelis there are consequences for ignoring its most important ally and embarrassing its vice president.

For those of us who support Israel but fear for its future as a Jewish and democratic state, it’s time for the U.S. to take a firm stand in the cause of peace and justice in the Middle East.

Clive Hoffman
Beverly Hills

Nearly five years ago, Israel withdrew all of its settlements from the Gaza Strip. Yet today, peace with the Palestinians remains nothing more than a distant dream.

The lesson is clear. The notion that Israeli settlements are the primary obstacle to peace is pure myth, perpetuated by the media and others to focus attention on Israel as the spoiler -- rather than on those who seek to delegitimize and ultimately dismantle the Jewish state with a mountain of lies and propaganda.

It has been written that “if the Palestinians had no weapons, there would be peace. If Israel had no weapons, there would be no Israel.”

Those words still resonate today.

Bruce Friedman
Los Angeles

For a country that has treated the Indians so shabbily, by our confiscation of their lands and our building of “settlements,” it seems ludicrous for us to shake a stick at Israel.

Or did I miss something when I took U.S. history in school?

Robert Kovan
Monarch Beach

Insuring nuclear power

Re “Indian government pulls nuclear legislation,” March 16

Interesting. For years the nuclear industry has been telling us how safe the plants it operates are.

Yet when India decided to withdraw legislation that would cap liability of U.S. firm’s nuclear projects in the country at just $65 million, howls arose.

It appears the nuclear operators can’t get insurance if their liability is not set that low. But why worry about liability if their operations are as safe as they claim?

Ken Fermoyle
Woodland Hills

Birth, death and medicine

Re “Life, medicalized,” Opinion, March 15

I commend H. Gilbert Welch on his excellent article regarding healthcare.

I am a recently retired nurse. I worked in ICU for nearly 30 years and have seen firsthand the changes he writes about.

With the technology available to us today, we can keep patients with multi-system failure “alive” for months at a time. This results in devastating costs -- financially to the healthcare system and emotionally to the patients and their families.

We, as a nation, must start setting limits on the excessive and needless care given to patients, both in and out of our hospitals.

Without these limits, the cost of healthcare in this country will continue to rise until it is no longer sustainable.

Beth Holzberger
Valencia

Welch’s article suggests that medical doctors have become counterproductive in terms of birth and death management.

In 1975’s “Medical Nemesis,” Ivan Illich prophetically asserted that health professionals considered birth and death as an “extraordinary contingency which must be dealt with by extraordinary measures.”

Illich also placed the onus on patients, who are conditioned to believe that they cannot cope with their illnesses unless they call on a doctor.

Although people should seek effective treatments, that should not be done at the expense of their own efforts to stay healthy.

In my opinion, it is not only the medical establishment that is becoming a threat to health -- it is “we the people.”

William K. Solberg
Los Angeles

It’s time for one L.A.

Re “Cutting to the core,” Editorial, March 14

Your editorial should make it obvious that the consolidation of the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, long overdue, would save taxpayers money by putting an end to the inefficient, overlapping functions of these two organizations -- for example, the county Sheriff’s Department and the LAPD, county and city fire departments, etc.

A communitywide citizen’s movement needs to be organized to overcome the inevitable bureaucratic and political opposition to consolidation.

Only in this way can “cutting to the core” be avoided, or at least minimized.

Leon Cooper
Malibu

Money’s a-wasting

Re “U.S. official’s flight of fancy,” Column, March 14

Kudos to Steve Lopez for once again pointing out the wasteful and self-indulgent spending of taxpayers’ money by our elected representatives.

Is it any wonder that Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) and both houses of Congress are held in such low esteem by the American public?

To compromise local emergency services, even if only for a few hours, to provide an aerial helicopter tour for the congresswoman’s D.C. staff is reckless and irresponsible.

To force the county and city fire departments to spend thousands of dollars -- at a time when public services are being cut to the bone and beyond -- is unconscionable.

Using Google Earth instead, as Lopez suggests, would have been a reasonable alternative.

Fred Hearn
Los Angeles