Irrevocable link of Jews and Zionism

Judge Dennis Davis' implication that the Jewish community has declined, and with this Jewish intellectual capacity (The death of a communal mind" May 14) is disingenuous at best and certainly insulting. He agrees with the Palestinian Solidarity Group (Letters, May 14). They seem not to comprehend the irrevocable link between Judaism (being Jewish). Israel/Zion and Jerusalem. Zionism did not begin in 1948. During the Babylonian exile some 3 OOO years ago Jews "sat by the Rivers of Babylon and wept when we remembered Zion". There are 700 references to Zion and Jerusalem in our Torah from which our universal values are derived.

In 1923 part of Palestine was given to a Saudi Arabian prince by the British Mandate and became Jordan. Where is the concern for those dispossessed Palestinians? Israel was created by a United Nations resolution in 1947 from the Palestinian region of the defunct Turkish Empire, as part of a two-state solution. For the Arabs, this was not an option. The fledgling state of Israel was attacked by the surrounding Arab states. The Arabs lost the battle but won the war. As a political weapon, "the Palestinian refugees" would prove a trump card in the subsequent 62 years.

In the West Bank (previously Judea and Samaria), now part of Jordan, anything Jewish was destroyed and desecrated. Jews were barred from their holy sites. The Palestinian Solidarity Group brook no mention of this. They also ignore Hamas and Iran's dedication to the destruction of Israel.

This makes for a volatile and fragile situation that is difficult for both sides. Until the Arab nations genuinely desire peace within a negotiated two-state solution it will continue. In this milieu Israel is obliged to protect her citizens. -Angela Lurie, Waverley