My Open Letter To Barbra Streisand

Dear Barbra...

You have been an Icon to every young Jewish girl born since the 1960s. We wanted to be like you, to know you, to be as talented as you, to be as influential as you... to be just like you. But now I find myself asking... what in the world has happened to you? When did you abandon Israel? Because your silence on the subject has been deafening. Surely you've realized that Israel is in a fight for her very existence. Not only that, anti-Semitism is rising everywhere -- even in this country. Yet many of those people who have those tendencies or have a predisposition to have them -- in this country -- still admire you. You could make a real difference.

The LA Times has been spewing anti-Israel rhetoric for years now. Did that motivate you to cancel your subscription? No. Yet when they fired their columnist Richard Scheer, who is known to not be a great friend to Israel, you spring into action. I can't tell you how betrayed (on Israel's behalf) I felt by that action.

I thought, maybe I'm being unfair. Maybe people aren't covering your statements. So if you had made any, I figured they'd probably be on your personal Web site. Yet, as I searched your site, nary a word was said about Israel. Plenty against our president, our war against Islamists (my word, not yours) that it's painfully obvious you don't understand -- as well as any left-wing cause that could probably survive without your two cents' worth.

We in the Western world are in a war for our very survival. Granted, you can't save us. Obviously you don't have that power. But if you spoke up for Israel, even visited, it could go a long way to helping Israel's reputation in this country. If Israel, as the Western country most on the frontline of this war, can remain alive and vibrant, maybe there's hope for the rest of us.