Are you holding another public gathering to discuss the well-documented evils found in Yemen, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Sudan? Are you going to hold yet another public gathering to discuss our own country's and Australia's strict immigration policies?
If not, I accuse you of political opportunism and a deliberate naivety. If you are not prepared to discuss this litany of evils as they occur in the nations above and others, such as Saudi Arabia, then you are a flawed liberal.
Regarding refugees, you failed to mention those persecuted and massacred because of their Christian, Jewish etc beliefs.
Everybody is entitled to their political opinion and the right to vote. You should encourage open debate and discourage ad hominem attacks on political figures.
To label a group of people (ie Republicans) with a contrary political view to yours as misogynist, sexist and bigoted is discrimination.
As a politician, you are surely aware of a head of state's responsibility to protect citizens from enemies, foreign and domestic.
You are not privy to US security agency briefings; President Trump is. How about you let him get on with his job and you get on with yours.
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JOACHIM PETERSEN, Whanganui
The Middle East
Jay Kuten accusing Fred Frederikse of anti-Semitism and trope (a metaphor for his negative attitude) is like accusing someone of racism and being anti-women. How does one defend oneself - the more we defend ourselves the more we are dragged into the mud.
Jay Kuten is a columnist and his knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may be sourced from overseas articles - especially US publications.
I trust the opinions of former Israeli generals more when they state that Israel does not face an existential threat from Iran, Isis, Hizballah or Hamas - despite prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim.
The only solution, Jay, is one-man, one-vote for all and one unitary state: the Abrahamic Republic of Israel-Palestine - as Israel is no longer a Jewish state since it decided to aggrandise its territory in June 1967.
It has all the trappings of a Jewish state (a flag, Jewish calendar, Sabbath, Jewish holidays) but it is no longer democratic.
Also, Stephen Palmer's comments on genetics deserves some response:
Jews have no genetic lineage that would link them to Biblical Hebrews unless one did a DNA research on the Cohens (the priestly class) - just like Greeks have no link with Homer's Greeks.
Jews and Greeks are one of the few nations to encompass both people-hood and religion - Judaism and Greek Orthodoxy.
Netanyahu is not Slavic as claim by Fred Frederikse - that would make him a Sephardi. In fact, he is from the Ashkenazi branch.
The only things that Jews have in common is that they have two cultures - a Jewish culture and the culture where they are born in.
Jews and Palestinians are not genetically linked as Palestinians originate from the Syrian hinterland and migrated to Palestine in 1800s during the Ottoman Empire.
To know the Middle East is one thing; to understand it is another.
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LEON BENBARUK, Whanganui
Grocery GST
The 15 per cent GST on basic groceries is a grossly unjust tax on low-income families.
Food is not an optional purchase - we all need to eat.
The effect of this tax on low-income families is out of proportion to the impact on high-income people. If this was translated into income tax there would be a public outcry.
Families of equal size and ages need about the same amount of food. If a family spends $300 per week or $15,600 per year, they pay $45 per week or $2340 per year in GST.
This $2340 would be a great help to those struggling on $50,000 a year, but is a more negligible amount to those on $150,000.
The governments of Canada, Australia, Britain and others understand that people have to buy food and their groceries are exempt from GST. Why have successive New Zealand governments continued this imposition on low-income families?
It is not hard to work out how to do it. The other countries manage it.
This needs to be an election issue. The level of poverty in this country is a disgrace and needs to be discussed with MPs, candidates, the community and the many worthwhile organisations feeding those who cannot afford sufficient groceries for their families.
ROSEMARY MICHIE, Rotorua
