Think before publishing

Editor: I do not usually write letters to the newspapers. The last time I wrote to the Jewish Bulletin was about 20-odd years ago when I was president of a Vancouver Jewish organization. Perhaps it's because I'm too lazy! However, the letters in the March 21st edition of the Bulletin prompted me to write.

I was present at the Philosophers' Café that was attended by the representatives of the Bulletin and, at that meeting, I remarked that I had never come across any other newspaper where a single letter to the editor had taken up a complete page. Thus, I found it pleasing to read the concise, yet fully informative, letters sent by the various Jewish newspaper editors, writers and others.

They all seem to agree on one thing – that they do not publish (or at least they think twice about publishing) letters of an anti-Israel or anti-Jewish nature. I particularly liked the idea of David Seltzer of the Cleveland Jewish News, where he states that, if you consider such a letter may be of interest to the readers, a Canadian Jewish Congress person should read it before publication so that an appropriate response may appear on the same page.

I agree with the message carried by all these letters – think carefully before publishing anti-Israel or anti-Jewish letters.

Nathan Cannon
Vancouver