Noting that the use of terror is a tactic, not an opposing system, Dr. Glickman observed that there is a fundamental flaw in the logic of those who analogize the current “war on terror” to the Cold War or the war against fascism. It is fallacious to think that the struggle against terrorism is finite or that there will ever come a day when we can celebrate complete victory.

Yet, characterizing current efforts in this language practically precludes rational argument because no one in the American political system wants to be trapped favoring terrorists. Calling it a war is inappropriate and serves to excuse considerable restrictions on the civil liberties of Americans.

What follows is an article written by Alan M. Lerner, Practice Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. We invite our readers to comment on this issue and what they see as the appropriate response of the Jewish community.

Click here to read Alan Lerner's article, "The Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Prohibit Gays & Lesbians from Marrying: The Wrong Policy at the Wrong Time."

• What to do about the existing, estimated 12 million, illegal immigrants in this country
• Whether a temporary worker program should be established
• Whether criminal penalties should be imposed on those who help illegal immigrants enter or stay here, such as employers and health care workers
• Whether the National Guard should be deployed as part of border security
• Whether illegal immigrants should be required to leave the United States as a condition of seeking to return to obtain citizenship

Something worse comes up through the moralistic lecturing of Israeli and American leaders regarding Hamas. The basic mistake, to the point of utter folly, is that the profound refusal to speak with the organization hurts Israeli interests. The orthodoxy of rejection even contradicts Olmert's tactics, which are said to be testing the potential for negotiations with the Palestinians before going to the great promise of evacuating most of the West Bank.

How does the prime minister intend those statements to be persuasive if no such attempt is made with the Hamas government, without giving it an opportunity to express its nay? Indeed, there also was a rhetorical flaw in all the talk about reaching out an outstretched hand to the elected Palestinian president, as Olmert made certain to refer to him in Washington, while he doesn't take Mahmoud Abbas' outstretched hand for negotiations.

June 6, 2006

Dear Commissioners and Advisors to the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA):

Since your last General Assembly in 2004, representatives of the Jewish Community have been actively involved with your church concerning the use of 'phased, selective divestment' as a means of addressing the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. These past two years have seen an animated debate on this critical issue. In fact, many of the overtures that have been submitted to the 217th General Assembly concern divestment. Several encourage rescinding this policy, others seek a change to positive investment in peace and confidence-building projects, and some call for implementation of the spirit of the overture presented at your last assembly. As you prepare to represent yourselves, your presbyteries, your synods and your church, we would like to reiterate our concerns. We pray that you will understand the importance of this issue to the Jewish community, and appreciate that we have faith in our ongoing dialogue. Our hope is that the church avoids a position that will harm our ongoing relations, harm the very people you hope to protect, and harm the prospects for a peaceful two-state solution for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples.

We want to speak specifically to why we feel divestment and economic actions focused on Israel are wrong. We do so in the spirit of candid, respectful, and direct dialogue, which we agree must be a hallmark of our conversations - on even the most contentious issues.

Do you visit the shore in the summer? Atlantic County Utility Authority has just allowed a contractor to install five large windmills on the bay side of Atlantic City. These five windmills produce sufficient power to serve electricity for thousands of homes. They are profitable at present prices of the oil and natural gas they save.

If the town you visit has not done likewise, ask why not. Almost every barrier island is likely to offer the same wind conditions (namely, lots of it) and the same opportunities on the bay side to support a windmill farm. Even if residents are sensitive about the bay views from their homes, most islands have commercial districts somewhere on their bay sides.

Too ambitious? Then find out about a solar collector for your roof at home, to heat your water year round. If you have electric heat, look into the new heat pumps that run heat into the ground in summer, and draw heat from the ground in winter. These are cost effective: they save fossil fuel, help environmental quality (see - I don't mention "global warming" because this is not a political article), can actually earn back their cost, and sometimes can produce a profit. You might even share in federal tax credits for saving energy.

Should you trade your car for a smaller, more fuel efficient auto? Unless your present car has reached the point where a trade-in is indicated, this rarely pays off, economically or environmentally. Cars are very expensive, and remember -- manufacturing a car uses a lot of energy too!

• Irwin Aronson - An attorney at Willig, Williams and Davidson in Harrisburg, Pa. and co-founder of Keystone Research Center, Inc.
• Brian Gocial - An attorney at Blank Rome, LLP in Philadelphia, Pa
• Brian Gralnick - Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and Fellow of the Center for Progressive Leadership
• Lazar Kleit - Former Executive Director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations
• Barry Kramer - Deputy General Counsel in Governor Rendell’s Office of General Counsel
• Norm Newberg, Ph.D. - Former Senior Fellow at the University of Pa. Graduate School of Education and Director of “Say Yes to Education”
• Ruth Perry – Former President National Women’s League of the United Synagogue of America; former Regional Director of American Jewish Congress
• Burt Siegel - Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia

• Ruth Schultz, Ph.D. – Chair Mentoring Program for Future Leaders of Hadassah, and Past National Chair of Read Write Now
• Barry Ungar - Mediator/arbitrator, former President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia, and former Vice Chair of Jewish Council on Public Affairs

Sixty-six years ago, Hiram Bingham IV, a blue-blood American diplomat in France, defied U.S. policy by helping Jews escape the Nazis in the early years of World War II.

Bingham's actions cost him his Foreign Service career but won him the undying gratitude of the more than 2,000 refugees he helped save by issuing them travel visas and false passports, and even at times sheltering them in his home. Only in recent years has his heroism been officially recognized by his own country.

Bingham, the Yale-educated son of a former U.S. senator, died in 1988 at age 84. His own children did not learn the extent of his wartime deeds until 1996, when a son found a cache of old journals and correspondence stashed in a hidden closet in the family's Connecticut home. Soon Bingham's face -- and, supporters hope, his story -- will be well known across the United States, as the U.S. Postal Service issues a stamp next Wednesday in his honor.