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
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
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