Letters to the Editor (August 8, 2011)

Is this how brethren behave?

In response to "We are brethren," August 2

Indeed, there is a delightful revival of fraternity and mutual responsibility, but is Amos Oz's call, "we are brethren," consistent with his statement that "generations of ignorant bums grow" in ultra-Orthodox yeshivas?

It is possible to agree with the claim that the mammoth sums funneled to the ultra-Orthodox sector encourage them to distance themselves from productive work and service in the Israel Defense Forces, but it is a mistake to call those who study Torah and Talmud "bums."

It is also a mistake to present settlements and ultra-Orthodox yeshivas as being among the destinations to which wealth "from the labor and creative talents of millions of Israelis who are carrying on their backs a unique economic wonder" pours. Do settlers not contribute, both through their productive work and their service in the army and the reserves?

Does Oz stop to think what would happen to the prices of apartments if hundreds of thousands of settlers were to come to live in Tel Aviv, or even in the western part of Jerusalem?

It seems that Oz is trying to use the popular uprising for his own political and diplomatic agenda. This is the way to weaken the protest, not to create fraternity and a feeling that "we are brethren."

Aharon Hildesheimer

Ramat Gan

A more just tax system

For the good of the middle class and weaker sectors of the population, the possibility of introducing a differential value-added tax should be examined.

Goods that form a significant part of the basket of consumption (food, health, education, public transportation, and so forth ) for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds could incur a lesser degree of tax (for example, 5 percent ), and this would include also VAT on fruit and vegetables. The VAT on other products could remain similar to its current rate (16 percent ). Tax on luxury goods - for example, large apartments, yachts, luxury cars and so on - could be higher (20 percent, for example ).

Adjusting the tax levels could create more justice for the weak without reducing the amount of VAT currently collected.

Zvi Spern

Kiryat Bialik

Protesters, remember the Arabs too

My heart goes out to the social protest movement. I feel for those who are living in the tents, for the doctors, and the mothers with strollers. However, I am afraid that this movement will skip over the painful problems of Israeli Arabs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that the Arab public enjoys full equal rights in the state, but at the same time he leads a continuous policy of discrimination.

My eyes pop out when I see the momentum of construction and development in Jewish towns close to my hometown of Taibeh. The land on which they are being constructed was appropriated from the residents of our city.

Indeed there are common problems among Arabs and Jews, such as day-care centers, economic difficulties and the high cost of living, but our problems are different from those of the tent dwellers.

What will the working class do, the class to which most Arab citizens belong, that earns a living mainly from manual labor? It is sad, if not tragic, that we construct thousands of homes, but we are not able to build a house or an apartment for ourselves. The real-estate situation in the Arab sector - which the state not only does not assist us with, but has instead for many years been torpedoing - encourages illegal construction. The solution would be to allocate state lands to the Arab population, just as it is fitting to do for the Jewish population.

Peace is a guarantee of economic well-being. All of us, Arabs and Jews, are in the same boat, being rocked hopelessly by a blind captain and an arrogant government that is cut off from reality.

Walid Sadik Former MK and deputy minister

Taibeh

A library for all

In response to "National Library gave away rare books by mistake," July 21

I do not wish to relate to the substance of giving away books - that is an acceptable practice in all libraries. It can be done in a better or worse fashion, and it is to be hoped that mistakes are not made. I'm not amazed that they gave away to the public a copy of "Tevye the Milkman" in Bulgarian. Who ever looked at it and what contribution did it have to research? And what contribution is made to research by an early translation of Darwin into German?

I too spent many years in the National Library and did my master's and doctoral degrees at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. And until I moved to the center of the country, I would go to the National Library almost every day. Nowadays I go there rarely.

I welcome the changes that have been made and the current policy. This is indeed the National Library and not the library of the Hebrew University. The claims that were made in the article reflect the opinions of a number of individuals who cannot get used to the new reality of a modern national library that aims to serve the people of Israel and not merely 30 researchers in a Jewish studies reading room or 15 in an institute for photographs of manuscripts.

I congratulate them on bringing the library to the people and the people to the library, and not merely to a narrow elite of researchers. The researchers will manage.

In any case, as Nir Hasson's article justifiably states, without the kind of resources that Harvard University has, it is impossible to have copies of everything, even in the core subjects.

Prof. Yehoshua Schwartz

Ramat Gan

In defense of the new bus network

In July, public transportation saw significant changes in the Dan region. The altered bus lines mean you can reach anywhere quickly and use transfers. The changes affected both routes and bus frequency. For example, a trip from Weizmann Street in Tel Aviv to the trans-Yarkon neighborhoods now takes about 15 minutes, and the buses arrive at stops at frequent intervals. When I rode the No. 7 bus one morning recently, I saw hundreds of private cars trying to come into the city, and in most of them there was just one person - the driver.

Apparently, people need an explanation about the different lines. For the reform to achieve its aims, I propose that the Transportation Ministry and the municipalities now address the public to encourage riding of the urban buses - in the printed press, on television and on the radio.

Emphasis should be made as to the advantages of using public transport - saving time and money for the individual and reduced noise, traffic density, pollution and accidents.

I believe this additional investment will pay off.

Dr. Mordechai Eran

Tel Aviv