January 11, 2001

The Wall Street Journal
Letters to the Editor
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281

To the Editor:

On behalf of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), which represents 13 national and 123 local Jewish community relations and public affairs organizations throughout the United States, we want to express our dismay over Ira Stoll’s op-ed in the December 29 edition attacking Rabbi Yitz Greenberg. Any reasonable person who has read the full text of Rabbi Greenberg’s speech given last November at the United Jewish Communities’ General Assembly in Chicago -- which provided the selective quotes that formed the basis for Mr. Stoll’s attack -- will conclude that the op-ed is a blatant distortion of reality.

Rather than accusing Israeli soldiers and policemen of using excessive force in responding to the recent Palestinian violence, Rabbi Greenberg, Chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, actually praises them for their restraint under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. He notes that in a small number of cases there may have been an overreaction and that Israeli officials are properly investigating them. Rabbi Greenberg, who has had a long and illustrious career supporting Israel and the Jewish people, was simply doing in this speech what he has been doing for decades -- providing our community with a thoughtful, loving analysis of the dilemmas Israel faces in exercising power in one of the world’s toughest neighborhoods.

Mr. Stoll also unfairly attacks the Council that administers the Holocaust Museum. While no institution is beyond criticism, we believe that overall this important institution has done an outstanding job of educating Americans and its many visitors from abroad about the history of the Holocaust and current human rights concerns. We are confident that under Rabbi Greenberg’s inspired leadership the Museum will continue to serve this important function.

Sincerely,

signed

Leonard A. Cole
Chair

Hannah Rosenthal
Executive Vice Chair