I am an alumnus of NYU

Dear President:

I am an alumnus of NYU (Masters of Public Health 1984). I am appalled at the decision to arrest students who are peacefully protesting the mass killing in Gaza and the West Bank.

There is a genocide taking place in Gaza. Ethnic cleansing and murder is taking place in the West Bank. In Gaza, over 34,000 people (mostly women and children) have been killed, and over 8,000 are missing--likely buried under rubble. Almost 80,000 people--again, mostly women and children--have been wounded. Bombs and weapons paid for by US taxpayers and tuition money from your students are facilitating this genocide.

As a Jew whose relatives were murdered in the holocaust I cannot stand by while genocide is committed. Students who cannot be silent should be commended, not arrested.

As an alumnus subject to fundraising calls from NYU, I demand an answer to the following questions:

1. How much money does NYU invest in Israel?

2. How much money does NYU invest in arms manufacturers whose weapons go to Israel?

3. Why is NYU Tel Aviv allowed to continue while it uses racial criteria for attendees (no Palestinians from Gaza and elsewhere in the Arab world)?

Sincerely,

Marcy London

I happen to be a Jew and a veteran and I have traveled to the West Bank

As far as Columbia student occupations and others like it around the country, what Biden said below and what you repeat in your CNN’s 5 Things  newsletter is abject bullshit. I happen to be a Jew and a veteran and I have traveled to the West Bank. I have seen the brutal apartheid and occupation personally. What  is going on in Gaza is genocide and there is no excuse for it or denial. CNN is part of the problem, not the students! The Zionist rabbi you  quote is betraying all that is decent in Judaism. All this blown-up hype about antisemitism is to cover up and obscure the crime of occupation and genocide that Biden and Israel, with the support of unfortunately a large percentage of their population are committing. CNN is aiding and abetting that crime. The students, many of who are Jewish have awakened and seen through the lies and are calling for an end to the slaughter! They are not anti-semitic. And neither am I. I well know that what I say will not change the corporate money addicted minds at CNN. As I said, CNN is part of the problem and we know that. Just want you to know that many see through the bullshit and that eventually the truth will assert itself. Then CNN and a system that is fueled by and perpetrates itself by genocide, war and violence will collapse, as it should.

Tarak Kauff

Whose future careers are being threatened, whose relatives are being murdered

What strikes me about these cries of anti-semitism, and the way campuses, and governments (US, State, and Local) are dutifully investigating this "phenomenon", (with an eye to banning speech and activity) is the power imbalance. The imbalance in financial clout and political power to influence these organs. I am Jewish, so I am especially anguished that my name is being used for these campaigns.

Jews are one of the the most affluent ethnic groups in the US. Along with earnings and wealth greater than the average American, Jews represent 35% or more of billionaires in the US. Pro-Israel Jewish organizations such as ADL, AIPAC, Hillel, and others, have enormous financial resources at their fingertips. Jewish donors to universities do not hesitate to wield the power of the purse.

And, yet, what I'm seeing and hearing is Jews describing themselves as if they are a powerless besieged minority, who are being oppressed by Black and Brown and Palestinian and Muslim students. 

This is so far from reality that it astonishes those of us who can see clearly.

At UC Berkeley, a Jewish Law Professor publishes an Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal saying "don't hire my students". Don't hire students who belong to SJP. Many law firms link the article (or cut and paste it in whole or part) on their websites.

The Dean of Berkeley law defends the Professor and pens his own paean to the terrible anti-semitism at UC Berkeley, although all the examples he gives are evidence of anti-zionism. At a UC funded dinner at his home, his wife wraps her arm around the neck of a student trying to give a speech about Ramadan and Palestine, while the Dean shouts at her to get out. He threatens the students who walk out with her, saying he'll report them to the State Bar. The next day, in interviews, he paints himself as the victim of the terrible anti-semitism at this dinner, while threatening to report to the state bar any student who again tries to speak up.

Who holds the power? What will happen to law students reported to the State Bar? Which students will easily get employment after graduating from UC Berkeley Law? Is it Jewish students who will have trouble seeking employment, or hijab wearing women with Arabic names, and Black and Brown students?

And so, when these organizations decide that anti-Israel sentiment is equivalent to anti-semitism, money talks.
 

There are no multi-million dollar organizations crying out for investigations of Islamophobia and anti-Palesinianism on campus. These students do not have powerful, well funded organizations fighting for them. They don't have multi-million dollar donors threatening to withdraw donations unless the universities crack down on discrimination. These are the students whose voices are being silenced, whose future careers are being threatened, whose relatives are being murdered.

Marcy

Will it burst one day, exposing all the myriad crimes

Antisemitism is the marvel of the twenty first century. It can cover up 75 years of racist apartheid. It can hide thousands of demolished homes in the West Bank. It can disguise the arrest and mistreatment of Palestinian children. And now, antisemitism is being asked to do the inconceivable, the obscuring of the genocide in Gaza and the slaughter of 12,000 children. And it is not just the slaughter by bombs and missiles. Israel is purposefully starving two million Palestinians to death. Quick, grab that magic veil and stretch it over Israel's crimes against humanity before the whole world can see!

Isn't there any consideration of how this has cheapened and degraded the charge itself? Is anyone going to believe genuine antisemitism when it has so obviously been used as a get out of jail card for all manner of crimes and criminal acts?  

On campuses, the charge is being used to punish and throw student groups off campus. Normally, the often well deserved criticism of Israel would be part of freedom of speech on campus. Now it is something else: antisemitism. It's even being used to ruin student careers, by charging human rights activists with hating Jews because they criticize Israel.

Even college presidents are made to grovel as they give up all pretense of academic freedom. Just how elastic can the charge of antisemitism be? Will it burst one day, exposing all the myriad crimes of the pariah state, as well as the lies of its well paid apologists?

Fred Nagel

Not really a war

The war goes on. Not really a war, of course. This is a widely admitted genocide, and its targets have been tens of thousands of civilians, almost half of them children.

The genocide has links to the one country still sending weapons and financial aid to Israel, our very own land of the free, home of the brave. The US is the accomplice to the worst slaughter of the twenty first century.

We can talk about the Israel Lobby, as well as the Christian Zionists, two groups that put Old Testament ravings above their basic humanity. "Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."

But the butchery in Gaza can't all be blamed on religious psychopaths. There is something disturbing about our two war parties. Congress and our main presidential candidates are stumbling over each other for more bloodshed. 13,000 children aren't enough. Who could their God be?

Maybe it is Allen Ginsberg's Molech, the God that destroys children though materialism and war. Molech in the twenty first century is wearing an IDF uniform as he shoots starving Palestinians. He is also Congressman Pat Ryan, whose "Top Contributor" for 2024 is AIPAC at $39,900, and "Top Industry" is Pro-Israel at $159,000 (data from OpenSecrets.org). He talks about ceasefires, but always votes to send more bombs and bullets to Israel.

And will this carnage we watch every night eventually be called the American Genocide? We know that it will.

Fred Nagel

What we learn in 4 minutes

What we learn in 4 minutes by A Martínez and Greg Myre (aired at 6:35 am on Thursday morning, April 18, 2024).

According to NPR: "Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza, with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and now directly with Iran. How are the conflicts linked, and how does it intend to handle all three at once?"

For each conflict, we are told that Israel was attacked first, and is only responding in self defense. For Gaza there is no mention of 75 years of occupation and murder of Palestinian civilians. For Iran, there is no mention of Israel's attack on its diplomatic mission in Syria. For Hezbollah, its rockets are pure aggression.

Omitted completely is Israel's genocide, with 15,000 children killed. No mention of Palestinian suffering or ethnic cleansing at all.

I am sending this out to hundreds in your listening area. We will no longer support "news" like this, which is so obviously Israeli propaganda. This report is also an insult to your listeners. We may have accepted this type of reporting in the past, but we will simply stop funding it now.

Fred Nagel

Carnage we watch every night will be called the American Genocide

The war goes on. Not really a war, of course. This is a widely admitted genocide, and its targets have been tens of thousands of civilians, almost half of them children.

The genocide has links to the one country still sending weapons and financial aid to Israel, our very own land of the free, home of the brave. The US is the accomplice to the worst slaughter of the twenty first century.

We can talk about the Israel Lobby, as well as the Christian Zionists, two groups that put Old Testament ravings above their basic humanity. "Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."

But the butchery in Gaza can't all be blamed on religious psychopaths. There is something disturbing about our two war parties. Congress and our main presidential candidates are stumbling over each other for more bloodshed. 13,000 children aren't enough. Who could their God be?

Maybe it is Allen Ginsberg's Molech, the God that destroys children though materialism and war. Molech in the twenty first century is wearing an IDF uniform as he shoots starving Palestinians. He is also Congressman Pat Ryan, whose "Top Contributor" for 2024 is AIPAC at $39,900, and "Top Industry" is Pro-Israel at $159,000 (data from OpenSecrets.org). He talks about ceasefires, but always votes to send more bombs and bullets to Israel.

And will this carnage we watch every night eventually be called the American Genocide? We know that it will.

Fred Nagel

75 years of war crimes, disguised as a functioning democracy

More 2,000 pound bombs for the genocide. And more jets to drop them on helpless and starving Palestinians in Gaza. Biden comes through once more for the Israel the oppressor, for the pariah of the 21st century.

Genocide Joe will be running against the fascist, racist, would be dictator, Donald Trump. It is a parade of fools for the majority of sane Americans who refuse to starve tens of thousands of children, but don't want a crazy dictator either. Another lesser of two evils moment for the long suffering electorate?

It is more than that. We are presented with two very old men, whose life experiences have been war and crony capitalism. They embody some of the worst excesses of the American Empire since World War II. And they can hardly remember what they did yesterday.

Meanwhile, the very richest own just about everything there is to own. Three people in the US have more wealth than the bottom 50% of the nation. There is rampant hunger, homelessness and lack of medical care for millions, while half the nation's federal budget goes to making war on the rest of the world.

Late stage empires seldom work very well. Roman citizens were impoverished by the endless wars of the first century, while their emperors got crazier and more dangerous. Life was hell except for the very richest, who barricaded themselves against the stricken masses. Our own government is little more than 75 years of war crimes, disguised as a functioning democracy.

Fred Nagel

"Never Again" a genocide of any people

Dear Editors:

Jewish Israeli observers of the more than five month bombardment of Gaza, have stated that there is a genocide taking place. Four hundred Israelis co-signed South Africa's suit charging Israel with genocide. Over 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of those women and children. Israel prevents food aid from reaching Gaza, subjecting the population to starvation. Children have already starved to death. Virtually the entire population of almost 3 million human beings has been rendered homeless.

American Jewish groups do not all share the same views. Many American Jews, and groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, Not in My Name, and others, share the alarm expressed by these Israeli observers. I have always believed that the words "Never Again" meant "Never Again" a genocide of any people. Because of this, I call for humanitarian aid to Gaza and a ceasefire now.

Sincerely,
Marcy

No escape from their demonic tormentors

There is a madness that comes from the daily view of genocide. All we have learned and all we have read stops at the barbed wire enclosure of Gaza. Inside, there are the images of Hell so ubiquitous in medieval art. For the damned, there is no pity, and no escape from their demonic tormentors.

But somehow to see this in real time breaks down the barriers of what we expect to encounter in our lives. That actual human beings could become the agents of such barbarism is just too horrible to dwell on, much less try to understand. This Hell on earth goes beyond rational thought.

Maybe that is why the genocide enablers keep sending Israel more weapons while they talk about ceasefires and food shipments. Are Biden and Blinken overcome by the horrors they have wrought, or are they simply part of the devil's plan?

Maybe that is why the holy stewards of Judeo/Christian religions are so determined to look the other way. Talking about genocide isn't a very civilized thing to do, especially when some are certain to take offense. The food banks they so generously organize and oversee as part of God's work aren't really for the starving children of Gaza. And the interfaith groups they so proudly belong to, won't lift a finger to condemn the charnel house that Israel has created for the Palestinians.

That leaves the rest of us. Are we too traumatized to act when the genocide is done in our name?

Fred Nagel

Journalism's critical role of informing the public.

Dear Editor,

From it's headline to the closing paragraph, Mike Corder's AP article in the February 20th issue of the Times Union could be a useful teaching tool in any college's journalism class.  Students can see how, by writing a report setting forth factual information but omitting salient points, reporters can lead readers to arrive at misinformed conclusions.

 

The article's headline, "Palestinian foreign minister accuses Israel of apartheid..." is accurate.  However, the words of the South African Ambassador, who described the policies and practices of the Israeli government as "an even more extreme form of the apartheid that was institutionalized against Black people in my country", are certainly more newsworthy than the to-be-expected accusation of a Palestinian foreign minister.

 

While he reported accurately that "Israelis were not scheduled to speak" at the hearings, Mr. Corder neglected to report that the reason they were not scheduled to speak was because of "Israel's decision not to send a delegation to the International Court of Justice this week to defend itself...".

 

Mr. Corder called readers' attention to the "146 settlements across the West Bank" that have been built by Israel but failed to mention that those settlements/colonies are for Israelis only and are illegal under International Law.

 

In his closing paragraph, Mr. Corder writes that Israel controls Gaza's  "airspace, coastline and population registry" but fails to mention Israel's control of Gaza's 37 mile land border with Israel.

 

A more thorough report would have fulfilled journalism's critical role of informing the public.

 

Sincerely,

Paul Rehm

You’ve got to be kidding, Joe

You’ve got to be kidding, Joe - build a f---ing PORT to get aid to the starving refugees??? WHY?  It's already at the Rafah gate, cruelly constrained by the genocidal paranoid Zionists. Lay down the law to them, if you have the guts, Joe, and take decisive action along lines such as this: tell them the U.S. will ensure that the trucks don't contain potential weapons and that they are COMING THROUGH!  If crybaby Bibi resists, cut off the aid you're lining up for Israel (you should have long ago) and provide armed protection for the convoys if necessary. But come hell or high water, they're COMING THROUGH, PRONTO!

Should Egypt object, suspend aid to them and they'll change their tune fast.   

          

Tough talk before Congress and cameras is easy, Joe.  If you really want respect you've got to follow up with swift, decisive, fearless action. Maybe not exactly what's suggested above, but SWIFT, decisive and fearless. It WILL succeed and greatly boost your chances against that redneck madman. You might even get our votes.

Gregory (& Nancy)

Now ain't the time for your tears

Today I am reminded of Bob Dylan's The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll and its refrain:

But you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears

Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for your tears

I address this to Biden and all those who believe this moment in the agony of Palestine is the time for their tears.

The time for tears to begin was 140 years ago when European Jews first imported the extant European ideology of ethnonationalism and its practice of Settler Colonialism, grafted it on to thousands of years of Jewish history, most of it in Diaspora, invented their own indigeneity in Palestine via a highly selective reading of that history, and turned its full force on hundreds of thousands of legitimately indigenous Palestinians.

I believe we need to see the question of "Antizionism = Antisemitism" in the broader context of the hostile takeover by Zionism of Jewish religion, culture, and history to serve not Jewish but its own ends. The crimes against humanity - colonialism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and now arguably genocide - are all steps along the way.

Lisa quite rightly states that personal experience is essential to the narrative we are to present, and most of you know that my personal narrative spans many decades of Zionist history. But the historical context is essential for the public to know as well. "Antizionism = Antisemitism" is a rhetorical ploy used by Zionism to deflect criticism and blame as it closes in for the kill. It weaponizes Jewish victimhood, especially the Holocaust, when in fact the essential elements of the Zionist project were already in place prior to the Holocaust.

The rage, horror, and grief that I feel for my Palestinian brothers and sisters stems from the rage, horror, and grief that I felt at the unoccupied grave of my Great Grandfather, Ferdinand Ullman, murdered in Theresienstadt, when I asked myself when will there be a time when Palestinian children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will be invited by the perpetrators to stand at the graves of their forebears, as my father and I were by the city of Frankfurt in 1992? At that moment Palestine merged with the Jewish soul that I had so recently rescued from Zionism.

With boundless love and affection for all of you, and in solidarity always,

Mark

Genocide is just another acceptable tactic

We often think of our elected officials as ordinary people, caught up in the spirit of public service. They certainly try to be like the rest of us, with families and favorite teams to cheer for. It's true, they are often a bit more patriotic than the average citizen. Not so carried away, however, as to ever fight America's endless wars in the Third World.

But when the Senate voted today for more aid to Israel, my confidence in our elected leaders faltered. We can see it on every computer screen, the genocide of 2 million at the hands of a rabid and racist Israeli army. Netanyahu's Israel behaves like the Third Reich, and our elected leaders behave like this is what normal people do.

But normal people want a ceasefire, not another shipment of bombs and missiles to Israel. Normal people are horrified at the prospect of tens of thousands of children being starved to death. Not our political leaders, however. Now that Israel has two million Palestinian civilians hopelessly crowded into southern Gaza, the "final solution" can begin. And to that rarified world of the US Senate, that's just fine.

The startling amorality of our ruling class, however, is a teaching moment. Our government is not a democracy, and its two party system is nothing more than a sham. The system is so monstrous that we have to take notice. Our late American empire is a killing machine, and genocide is just another acceptable tactic.


Fred Nagel

Call with Pat Ryan yesterday:

The statement by Kristina Hwang took everyone's breath away. She calculated that the congressman had accepted funds from AIPAC amounting to exactly $6.50 for each Palestinian child killed since October. She asked him how he felt about valuing human life that way and how his own children will one day feel about their father.

There were many other powerful statements made on the call, including by Palestinian-Americans whose families have been forced from their homes, maimed and killed-- not just these past months but for decades.

It was clear that Ryan was carefully avoiding the word ceasefire. He used elaborate dodgy substitutes but would not pronounce the word -- as if he had been muzzled.

How have we lost so much human rights ground here in the US? How have we managed to normalize attacks on hospitals and demonize the word ceasefire?

It would be great if we could gather the written statements in one place.

~Katherine

Hard to tell if you actually learned anything

Dear Congressman Ryan,

Thank you for hosting a meeting with us today on zoom. I was only able to stay for two hours and never got a chance to speak, partly because I didn’t know how to raise my hand on zoom for the first hour and then because I had to work at 1:00. And also because you took up the majority of time talking yourself.

I can see that you are genuinely disturbed by what Israel is doing to the people of Gaza.You also seem genuinely confused as to what to do. My solution is to cut off ties to Israel until they stop the slaughter. The idea that Hamas has to agree to a ceasefire also is absurd given the outsized response to their ground invasion. I do not hear you expressing a clear understanding of why Hamas got into power in the first place and how bombing Gaza to smithereens would never stop this cycle of anger and destruction. Your recent votes to stop extra military aid to Israel is too little too late. It is time to do something big right now.

You must speak up loud and clear on this or none of us will believe you have any intention of jeopardizing your campaign funding from AIPAC. This is a core issue for us, as was the war in Iraq that you still seem to carry as a badge of honor even though it was wrong to ever be there. You can only claim allegiance to the flag as a cover for ignorance for so long before I wonder why you are not educating yourself. The situation in Gaza was already brewing before the Hamas attack and you would not listen then. If you had you would have known just like we did that Israel would wage a full scale genocide if given any leeway, and we were proven right, so it would be good to listen to your constituents who have historically been right on all these issues. I did not hear a false word spoken by the people who showed up to speak to you today. It would have been to your better good if you would have talked less and listened more. 

Given that this is an atrocity that outweighs any local problems that you may be focused on I think you could arrange another meeting in which you answer briefly all the questions and then let people talk. The idea of the meeting today was good, but I am pretty sure it left most of us frustrated, and it is hard to tell if you actually learned anything.

Sincerely,
CARY KITTNER

Question to Pat Ryan

Here is my question and comment if anyone is interested. 

Given your background as a military person, I would assume you feel there is a strategy in endlessly arming Israel. Can you please explain how killing 25 times the number of people as were killed in the Hamas attack in order to end Hamas and destroying any chance of returning to a meagre normal for the other 2 million people will end the ideology, trauma, and living conditions that created Hamas in the first place? 

As an American Jew who has been following the oppression and encroachment on the Palestinian people, I was not surprised by the Hamas attack in Israel. Whether people are killed in smaller amounts over the years or if they are killed all at once in a strategic paramilitary raid, it has been apparent that there is a war going on in Israel/Palestine for decades. I do not approve of military "solutions" pretty much any time so I don't approve of Hamas. However, in retrospect, it appears that Hamas knows their enemy well and is right about them. Israel has proven that they are the monster that Hamas has described them to be. Now the world sees that and they see my country aiding the monster. You are aiding the monster. Speaking from a purely nationalistic and strategic point of view, this is not good for America and it is your job to do what is good for America. Speaking as a person, a Jew, this is breaking my heart.
 

 CARY KITTNER

Never again, to any people!

The current images coming from the genocide of the Palestinian people are hard to take. For starvation leaves such telltale signs. Often groups of children carry empty pots, looking for anything to put in them. They are much too thin, and sometimes their legs and stomach are bloated. They are listless and confused. Towards the end, they don't even cry.

But before you turn away in horror, consider that the people running our government are orchestrating this starvation directed at millions of indigenous people. The Palestinians happen to live in the country that England and the US have given to the Zionists. Its nothing personal, of course. Israel is our military assassin, our paid killer in the oil rich Middle East. The deal is Israel will do our bidding as long as we look the other way as it creates a theocracy bathed in Arab blood.

The genocide is so obvious that Representatives like Pat Ryan and Senators like Chuck Schumer know that they have to keep talking about Israel's right to "protect itself." Fat with Israel Lobby money, they are more than willing to starve Palestinian children if that's what it takes.

For this genocide is the Holocaust of our lifetime, although some of the roles have changed. The victims of the first Holocaust are the killers this time around. The proud nation that was so instrumental in vanquishing the Nazis, now supplies and provides cover for the murderous war criminals.

We must come together to insist: Never again, to any people!

Fred Nagel

Regarding your comments

Regarding your comments on my letter in your Jan./Feb. 2024 issue, yes, Zionist violence has chilled non-violent Palestinian resistance. Consequently, non-violent resistance alone does not appear to be a winning strategy for Palestinian liberation. Success in freedom struggles usually requires striking the right balance between non-violence and armed force, as Mandela discovered in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. Further, that armed force must be carefully modulated so as not to alienate, but garner, all-important public support – especially in the U.S. 

Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack was not regulated in this manner. By deliberately attacking civilians (as well as military targets) they alienated public opinion, facilitated their being labeled “terrorists,” and made their actions hard to defend. Had they targeted only military assets, they could have been far more successful in the crucial public opinion arena. There would still have been collateral civilian casualties, but it would have been possible to justify them as proportional to the potential military gains, thereby complying with international humanitarian law. Had they utilized such a strategy, the abomination of desolation the Zionist beast has created in Gaza would stand out more clearly for what it is: unadulterated genocide. This could have resulted in much greater benefit to the Palestinian narrative.

How might Hamas’ rocket attacks have fit into a nuanced strategy such as this? Even beginning to address this question will require another letter.

Sincerely,

Gregory DeSylva

What universe is this morally acceptable?

Senator Gillibrand:
 
I was sickened to read your comments blaming “bad intelligence” for opinions such as Senator Sanders’ that are critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Whatever privileged information you have access to, it cannot change the reality that we are witnessing with our own eyes: dead or orphaned or wounded children, devastated parents, bombed buildings, tens of thousands of people without shelter or food.
 
26,000 dead, including 11,000 children. Entire cities leveled. Almost an entire population displaced.

In what universe is this morally acceptable, Senator Gillibrand?
 
Hamas’s massacre on October 7 was an outrage. The subsequent obliteration, at a historically unprecedented pace, of Gazan lives, homes, universities, schools, hospitals, and a way of life is also an outrage, recognized by most of the world including the International Court of Justice as plausibly genocidal.
 
You are quoted as saying that Israel follows “all of the humanitarian agreements” in a “thoughtful, methodical way.” Murdering 11,000 children may indeed be “thoughtful and methodical” but it is not humanitarian. It is callous, brutal, and chilling to the bone.
 
You claim that there is no truth in “narratives” of occupation and white supremacy. This is simply bizarre. Are you denying Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967? Are you denying the explicit statements and actions of Israeli political leaders who pass laws that discriminate on the basis of ethnicity and describe Palestinians as vermin and sub-human?
 
You claim that a ceasefire would mean that the hostages are not returned. The opposite is true: an immediate and permanent ceasefire would save the hostages’ lives, at present greatly at risk from Israel’s bombardment.
 
Senator Gillibrand, I don't know what threats or promises have led you to your current position, but I implore you to step away from your Israel-can-do-no-wrong attitude. I implore you to join your colleagues in calling for a ceasefire, supported by 76% of Democratic voters. It is time for you to show courage and leadership.
 
Sincerely, 

Jo

To PBS News Hour

Amna,

In your Jan. 23 report you repeatedly referred to Hamas as "terrorists." Yes, they should not have attacked civilians, but Israel has killed thirty times as many civilians (including some of its own) and counting with its  indiscriminate counterattacks. And Israeli claims of Hamas atrocities are highly suspect and self-serving. (many of their civilian casualties were the result of its "Hannibal Directive" counterattacks).  All Palestinian militants are fundamentally resistance fighters, whereas the Zionist beast's soldiers feed it with Palestinian civilians, children and women, washing them down with Palestinian land and water. They are the true terrorists, Amna, and I think you know it. Why do you have to tread on the graves of the downtrodden Palestiians, Amna?  Is the money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness? Do you think that it could?   

G. DeSylva

Distracted from untold suffering

We forget. We dismiss, we deny, and we are distracted from untold suffering that surrounds us every day.  Not just in Palestine.  EVERY DAY  25,000 die of starvation worldwide.  In the US 772 women are raped or sexually assaulted EVERY DAY.  Twenty-three  million terrified animals are brutally slaughtered EVERY DAY  so we can consume  their flesh.  Extractive industries like mining, logging, and drilling cause suffering and devastation around the globe every day.   And yes,  it’s always about power, privilege, and profit.  And yes,  the perpetrators are often white men.

Many are members of  “big brother’s”  billionaire club  and are determined to commodify, monetize, and digitize all humanity and all life.  And we become numb and accept new normals that degrade  our humanity.  Don’t let Israels’ genocide and ethnic cleansing become normalized.  It’s not.  Don’t be desensitized by the daily reports of atrocities and deaths.  And don’t be fooled by the  well oiled and well financed Israeli/Zionist propaganda machine which spins out lies, distortions, and misinformation to a media that questions nothing.  

For the truth about the fabrications about  beheaded and burned babies or rape and sexual assaults on Oct. 7 read and/or listen to Max Blumenthal https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/10/questions-nyt-hamas-rape-report/  -  There are more than 23.000 corpses (10,000 are children)  in Gaza, but no water, no food, no electricity. They have no voice, but we do.  Please speak out about  the ongoing  genocidal slaughter   in Gaza (made possible with your tax dollars). 

Eli Kassirer

Dull, stupid sleep

Germans have always been criticized for knowing that the Holocaust was going on and doing nothing to stop it. In truth, during the actual genocide, speaking out against a wartime Nazi regime meant almost certain death. Even passing out leaflets at the University of Munich got a small group called the "White Rose" arrested, tried and beheaded.

Their second of six leaflets had denounced the persecution and mass murder of the Jews: "The German people slumber on in dull, stupid sleep and encourage the fascist criminals. Each wants to be exonerated of guilt, each one continues on his way with the most placid, calm conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!"

Today we are free to criticize our government's arming and protecting Israel as it exterminates the Palestinian people. Using the latest US weaponry and drones, Israel is making the home of over 2 million people into a world of rubble. The IDF, self proclaimed as the most moral military force in the world, has slaughtered over 10,000 children and cut the rest of the population off from food, water and shelter. What bombs can't accomplish, starvation and disease surely will.  

This is a genocide, aided and protected by the murderers who run our government. Their pockets are lined with millions from the Israel Lobby (see OpenSecrets.org), like Pat Ryan with $37,650 a year and Kirsten Gillibrand who pulled in $174,104.

So why aren't you speaking out? Still slumbering in dull, stupid sleep?

Fred Nagel

A problem with genocide

Our country has always had a problem with genocide. That is what this new wave of student activists are discovering as they protest the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza. The US has been doing it for decades, with its bombings and invasions of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. Moreover, the Empire has used its air power on any number of additional third world victims, like Nicaragua, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, Serbia, Libya  Syria, and Cambodia. It's all the same. The empire congratulates itself on its fine ideals and then bombs the hell out of yet another Third World country.

Only this time, student activists can see how our political class is full of pro genocide advocates. Congressman Pat Ryan's good old boy charm can barely disguise his willingness to support Israel's extermination plans. Is he paid off by the Israel Lobby? By the weapons makers? According to OpenSecrets.org, the answer is yes.

In addition, students can now see how eager college administrators are to curtail freedom of speech on campus. Anything to please those rich alums, who expect their million dollar donations will cover up any mass slaughter of Palestinian innocents. College presidents turn out to be as venal as politicians.

Finally, students now realize how subservient our national media is to rich corporations and their war machine. That same media has kept us ignorant of empire for all these years.   

The message to new activists is simple. Down with the empire and the corruption that feeds its war machine.

Fred Nagel