Usually when I see an email from my friend Gershon Reed, I start to giggle before I even open it. Gershon has a delightfully wicked talent at putting a funny spin on local events.

This time, however, what he sent wasn't funny.

He, like virtually all of us in Israel, is critical of the idiotic Norwegians who awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the Community Organizer. But he didn’t write just to me to complain, he wrote to the Nobel Committee.

I’ll let his letter speak for itself:

To: postmaster@nobel.no; library@nobel.no
CC: bcatto@insight.rr.com; charlie_ribardo@yahoo.com; csolomon@netvision.net.il; jmaple@umn.edu; maimonk@yahoo.com
Subject: This year's peace prize winner
Date: 10 Oct 2009 06:21:36 +0000

Dear Norwegian Nobel Committee:

Your recent choice for a Nobel Peace Prize does nothing but de-value the prize. Did you not think that the world would realize that the deadline for nominations was a mere ten days after Mr. Obama entered office? What can be accomplished in ten days to earn a Nobel Peace Prize? I have read about Mr. Alfred Nobel and I believe that he would not agree to a prize being awarded without anything being accomplished. Shame on you.

As time progresses, the prize is losing its meaning. In a few years, if you keep up awards of this caliber, nobody will care anymore about the Nobel Peace Prize.

I must agree with one aspect of this situation: you are putting Mr. Obama in with the likes of Arafat, Carter, Annan and Tutu. The list of laureates is fast becoming a list of terrorists and left wing nuts without a clue. The aforementioned laureates are the personification of Evil itself.

If anyone deserves a prize, it is Mr. G. W. Bush. Before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the streets of Israel were filled with people carrying a gas mask. Because of Mr. Bush's daring actions to oust Sadam, the children in Israel are not carrying their gas masks to school anymore.

I sincerely hope you take the time to reflect on your actions and decisions. You must take into consideration that diplomacy is not always the path to peace. In fact, the usual path to peace is war. Think long and hard as to why there is peace in Europe today. Diplomacy failed. It will again. The current leadership of Iran, Syria and the PA ensure that it will. Don't be naive like Mr. Chamberlain was; believing that "land for peace" will work.

I hope you take the time to consider my words, as a citizen of planet Earth.

Sincerely,
Gershon Reed
Be'er Sheva, Israel


We all know that the likelihood of the Nobel Committee's seriously "considering" Gershon’s words – or those of anyone else who disagrees – is small indeed, Gershon did what we all should do. He didn't give up.

We can't either.

Write. Complain. Point out the folly of their decision. Will it help? It surely won’t hurt. And one thing is absolutely certain: unless we all speak out, the same thing WILL happen again.

You’ve got the Committee's address from Gershon’s letter. Take five minutes. Write.