Upon reading letter writer Letitia Ufford’s anti-Israel diatribe in the July 20 paper (“Hatred of Israel created by that nation’s own acts”), I ask her one thing: Are you serious?

I challenge her to show once where Israel has secured the destruction of Iraq and threatened the destruction of Iran and Lebanon.

There’s a huge difference in responding to another nation’s call for your destruction and initiating one yourself. If she thinks Israel is the root of the problems in the Middle East, then I feel sorry for her.

I noticed that she mentioned that one cannot criticize Israel without being accused of being anti-semitic.

Funny she mentioned that. In this so called Arab Spring, I’ve yet to see one letter from the regular anti-Israel writers defending the citizens of Egypt, Libya or Syria in their quest for freedom. Especially Syria, where thousands have been murdered by the government just for wanting democracy. Perhaps she’s right about her thinking, but the lack of letters opposed to the real human rights violators says otherwise.

Mickey Haas

Portland 

Surely, Ms. Letitia Uffod’s letter at least could have reflected accurate, researched and historical data.

Instead, the reader is treated to the ranting and inaccurate “presentation” of facts and data to meet what appears to Ms. Ufford’s own perception of history.

Mary R. Norton

Cape Elizabeth

I am writing to reply to the writer from South Bristol who feels that Israel is the reason the Arab Palestinians do not have their own homeland.

I believe that if she were to study the true history of the Middle East, she may open her eyes to the fact that the Arab Palestinians were offered their own state back in 1921 as part of the agreement between England (which occupied Palestine after World War I) and King Faisal of TransJordan. The agreement, originally known as the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement, was full recognition of a Jewish state by the Arab world.

The Arab Palestinians (who were not called “Palestinians” until Yasir Arafat used the name in 1967) have rejected every effort Israel has made since that time. Their objective is to “wipe Israel off the face of the map” (in their own words).

The fact that there has been no peace in the region is not because of “Israel’s own acts,” but rather the Arab Palestinians’ refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist. I suggest that Ms. Ufford ask herself these questions:

1. If Israel is so evil, why are the bunkers in Gaza aimed inward (toward their own people) rather than at Israel? Are they afraid of the better life their people see across the divide?

2. Why are the Arab Palestinians who live in Israel happy to live and work with Israelis, but afraid to speak out against the radical Muslims?

3. Why does Israel’s government bend over backward to accommodate the Arab Palestinians living in Israel?

Wouldn’t it be great if the world really did its homework and learned the true history of the region and the real history of the Jewish people.

I am proud to stand with Israel.

Sally Vose

Bath

New environmental rules will pile up costs to nation 

The debt ceiling debate is a deception. The last debt ceiling crisis came and went with the only action being that they moved the catastrophic deadline to Aug. 2.

The pundits, economic experts, assorted congressional spokesmen and President Obama himself have made several trips to the podium touting their plans and subsequent collective vetoes of the other guys’ ideas.

Meanwhile, another group, under the cover of media inattention, has been making all the debt talk seem totally insignificant. The group? The Environmental Protection Agency!

Under Obama’s direction and his ignored blunt statement (“Under my policies, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket”), the EPA has totally put coal energy and related businesses on red alert and scrambling for survival. The mercury air-toxic standards rule raises allowable emissions standards to the point that compliance is not much of an option.

American Energy Corp. stated it will close five coal-fired energy plants rather than spend the millions to revamp their facilities. The New York Times stated that the new carbon emission regulations will cost businesses, states and counties upwards of $90 billion annually to comply.

A Heritage Foundation analysis recently calculated that job losses, fees, plant closings and unavoidable costs for replacement energy will result in a loss of close to $7.4 trillion in GDP when the rule is applied fully.

A provision in the cap-and-trade bill (Waxman-Markey) contains payoffs to workers in the energy sector (whom they know will become unemployed) for three years, which includes 80 percent of paid medical coverage, lump-sum fees for schooling and retraining, and 156 weeks of unemployment wages.

The unemployment burden will increase, and any announced savings by Obama and the Democrats are deceptive. Please look up “EPA job-killing policies” — and stop the EPA.

Patrick Scully

Alfred

Knox museum applauded for speaker from Al Jazeera 

I applaud the decision to have elected Abderrahim Foukara as the 2011 Gala Honoree of the Henry Knox Museum and have him speak at the Strand Theater in Rockland tonight.

It demonstrates foresight on behalf of the voters to have the Washington Bureau chief of Al Jazeera, a voice for truth and moderation in the Middle East and around the world, be this year’s honoree.

I realize the Knox Museum and its staff have taken heat for this decision, but it is the right thing to do and is in concordance with the tenets of our democracy. People who have taken the time to actually read and listen to Al Jazeera might realize it is one of the few voices for what is happening in the Mideast today, as well as around the world.

All too often, Americans get only one side of the news — that which our commercial broadcast systems provide in sound bites. PBS is an honorable exception.

Certainly there are factions that profess to be the “true” voice and spirit of Islam — factions that have hurt us tremendously. But nowhere in the mission statement of Al Jazeera does it claim any religious affiliation. It covers news from all over the world in an unbiased manner. Others should read and listen to Al Jazeera’s reports and commentaries.

Though it has made tremendous strides, the United States unfortunately has not the sterling reputation for the protection of the disenfranchised and those of different races or creeds that some profess.

I trust that the museum and the Rockland community will provide adequate security for this talk.

David Uhlik

Rockport