Letter to the Editor:

August 1, 2006

Recently I attended, along with 1200 others an ecumenical rally supporting the State of Israel held at Temple Israel in White Plains. I must applaud Councilperson Glen Hockley for supporting Mayor Joe Delfino’s effort regarding his personal show of solidarity with the embattled Israeli State in her struggle with the number one terrorist organization in the world today.

Americans have long supported international efforts to combat state terror, totalitarianism and fascism around the world. They volunteered to fight for China against Japan with the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers), fought with the RAF against the Nazis in the Eagle Squadron, organized the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to support and fight with the Spanish Republic against Franco and volunteered in Ethiopia to fight Mussolini.

We have a long tradition of public officials speaking out and endorsing democratic struggles and embattled nations around the world that have been attacked by dictators and their sycophants. Nowhere are we seeing a greater struggle than on the northern border of Israel, where their troops are fighting Hezbollah, the armed surrogates of Iran and Syria. These two notorious havens for terrorists, haters and opponents threaten our western way of life, which supports pluralism, democracy, and The Four Freedoms. Do not forget for one moment that Hezbollah has been the terrorist organization that has killed more Americans than anyone else except the brigands that smashed into both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Richard J. Garfunkel