My Right Word

Thomas Friedman is responsible for causing me to try out the communications route of blogging.

His column in the NYTimes of May 16, 2004, Tyranny of Minorities, was the final push I needed.

Among other activities, I am a letter writer to newspapers and other periodicals. I can't avoid dashing off 150 words to correct historical facts and point out illogical reasoning.

Here's what I wrote in response to Friedman's latest op-ed:

Question: What does Thomas Friedman have in common with extremist Muslims? Answer: More than you'd think.

Friedman possesses a messianic belief in his ability to sway public opinion in order to demonize and ostracize the type of Jew he loves to hate: the Jew who lives in his ancestral homeland, the so-called "settler".

His "Tyranny of the Minorities" (May 16) compares my friends, neighbors and my family to Iraqi terrorists who
are willing "to sacrifice their followers and others for absolutist visions" when, before the 1967 war and afterwards, it has been the terrorists of the Palestine nationalist movement who mirror Moktada al-Sadr.

If there is a tyranny of a minority, one of its emissaries is a journalist who represents no one, who calls humans a "cancer", as he has done in this prestigious newspaper and perverts history.

Someone suggested to me that I file a complaint with the Israel Police against Friedman for publishing incitement and then, next time he shows up, proceedings can be started against him. Do you think that's a good idea?