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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Guest Opinion: Plaza fencing is ugly and wasteful ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Require national service ... Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... Guest Opinion: Plaza fencing is ugly and wasteful ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Require national service ... Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor, April 29 Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Apr. 29, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Apr. 29, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Deflecting criticism Israeli consul Roey Gilad's "The chaos that surrounds Israel" (April 22) is an attempt to deflect the growing international criticism over Israel's dismal human rights policies. Many prominent Israeli and American Jews (including a former Israeli prime minister) have voiced concern that Israel's continuing occupation of Palestine will lead to apartheid. The truth is that Israel already administers the West Bank and east Jerusalem (the bulk of what's left of Palestine) as an apartheid state. For example, in the West Bank, Jews live under civilian law while non-Jews live under permanent military law and Jews get to vote for their government while non-Jews (whose lives are controlled by Israel) do not. Jews, as citizens, have freedom of movement while non-Jews in the West Bank are denied citizenship and have severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. In October 2007, my wife and I spent a night in the Palestinian town of Tulkarem, which is surrounded by barbed wire and the only entry/exit to the town was locked tight at 7 p.m. by Israeli guards. I bear witness. Gaza's situation is even worse. Israel has been blockading Gaza (an act of war) since 2007. Yes, the homemade rockets coming into southern Israel are illegal, but they are a response to the blockade and the occupation, not the cause of it. Israel bombed Gaza's lone airport and controls all of Gaza's land, sea and air lanes except for the southern border with Egypt (that other "bastion of democracy"), which honors the blockade in order to maintain its multi-billion dollar military aid package from the U.S. Imagine how we would feel if Canada or Mexico blockaded all of our airports, seaports and land entries. According to Wikipedia, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the U.N. Human Rights Council and most other international institutions consider the blockade illegal. Accordingly, people of conscience worldwide now support BDS (the Palestinian civil call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against apartheid Israel just as they did against apartheid South Africa. BDS is considered the only tactic that can successfully pressure Israel to abide by its human rights obligations and is supported by Jewish Voice for Peace. Gene Robbins Ashland Where's Walden? The Tidings recently ran a story about the expansion of Oregon Caves National Monument. Included was a picture of three smiling congressmen — our two senators and the representative from District 4 where the caves are located. Notably absent was the representative from the 2nd District, Greg Walden. The caves are not technically in his district (but very close), and Walden was an original co-sponsor of the bill that included the caves expansion and he hasn't hesitated to get involved in Illinois Valley affairs when it suited his purpose, e.g. inviting Jennifer Phillipi, co-owner of the Rough and Ready mill (formerly the valley"s largest private employer) to the president's State of the Union Address. So you'd think at least a pro forma appearance would be in order. Nah! If contacted, I'm sure Mr. Walden would claim that his busy schedule precluded an appearance. Unlikely. Members of Congress make a base salary of $174,000 (too little, they claim) plus perks that would make the CEO of a Fortune 500 company envious. A little research shows that they work an average of 120 days a year. That's it! That makes Ashland's own two notorious groups of egregiously overpaid and underworked city employees look like a positive bargain. Since they don't seem to pass much meaningful legislation. the most congressmen have to do with their considerable free time is just get re-elected. The smooth-talking Walden, like his predecessor, long-serving "cut it, burn it and pave it" Bob Smith, essentially has a lifetime appointment to his position. He can campaign by going huntin' and fishin'. My guess is that Walden was a no-show because: a) despite reluctant, tacit approval of the expansion, he didn't wanna appear too chummy with three liberal Democratic environmeddler types, thereby damaging his cred with the southwest Oregon crazies who already view him with considerable suspicion, b) he doesn't wanna risk raising his already abysmal 3 percent rating by the League of Conservation Voters (it's 0 percent from some other groups with more stringent criteria). Doyle Hirsch Ashland DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Apr. 29, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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