01/09 What you’re saying: William Bowling, and Gabriel Szulik | The Herald Sun

Free-ride unfairness

I have a question for the N.C.Attorney General’s office, and other tax lawyers, concerning abuse, and maybe violation of our tax dollars being spent. The ever-expanding, mega-government, known as “GoTriangle” in Durham, announced in Thursday’s newspaper that they were starting “Go OnDemand” (an Uber-type service) in RTP. No more shuttle buses, at $2.25 a trip. The OnDemand rides are also $2.25 per trip. but from now until June 30, 2018, the service will be FREE !

Is it legal for GoTriangle to still collect the $15 Light Rail fee per each Durham County vehicle license renewal, plus use local tax and federal grant funds, and give the money (free rides), to upper-income earners in the RTP area? I bet the lower-income folks in East Durham and middle-class folks in North and West Durham would like that deal! GoTriangle is out of control and needs a federal/state audit of their spending.

Beacon of freedom

In her commentary “Learn the history to understand the Middle East conflict,” (Jan. 3) Kylie Stephens misrepresents facts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while offering revisionist history most notable for its omissions and distortions. Stephens ignores that...

▪ Israel has, for decades, consistently offered peace deals including the return of half of Jerusalem.

▪ Israel unilaterally returned Gaza more than a decade ago, showing its willingness for peace and return of land, only to receive thousands of rockets and suicide bombs in return.

▪ Hundreds of thousands of Jews were expelled and fled from persecution in the Arab world, even before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

▪ The U.N. attempted to make Palestine. Jordan took the West Bank and Egypt took Gaza from the Palestinians. Jordan refused to allow Jews to pray at holy sites while desecrating Jewish holy sites.

▪ Israel gained most of this territory defending itself in several wars, all of which were started by its neighbors after they rejected Palestine.

▪ Arab-led pogroms and the killing of Jews started many years before 1948 and 1967.

Stephens paints a picture of Israel being the “oppressor” and whimsically violating human rights. The real oppressing regimes are those who neighbor Israel, most of them showing total disregard for democracy, lack of freedom of speech and religion, no respect for the LGBTQ community, and many of which openly support and fund terrorism around the world. Not only does the Palestinian Authority (PA) committee finance and endorse terrorism, it is afraid of the terrorist group Hamas so much that Palestinian leaders stay out of Hamas-led Gaza.

Israel, like any other country, is far from perfect, but it continues to be a beacon of freedom, democracy and respect for the rule of law and institutions in an otherwise violent, undemocratic and corrupt neighborhood. In Israel, Arabs, Muslims, Christians and all communities are embraced and respected. They can vote and be represented in the Parliament, and many even serve in the military. In many Arab countries Jews and Palestinians are still persecuted and can’t live freely. In Israel, an Israeli Arab serves on the Supreme Court. How many countries neighboring Israel even have supreme courts?