Profoundly offended by your betrayal of a devoted employee for expressing her humanity

To Austin Bender and Steve Ritea:

As a citizen, a person of conscience, and a graduate of NYU, I am writing to protest NYU-Langone's cowardly decision to fire Hesen Jabr, RN, honored for her outstanding work with bereaved mothers.

The highest court in the world, the International Court of Justice, has determined that according to the Genocide Convention--ratified by the US--the current slaughter in Gaza is plausibly genocide. The UN Special Rapporteur said in March that there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Countless people in the US and elsewhere have also concluded that what we are witnessing constitutes genocide.

What arrogance, then, for you to shame and punish Ms. Jabr for using the word, ostensibly because "some people" were offended by it. Who are those people? Why do you listen to them? Why do their sensibilities matter more than the sensibilities of people who are grieving and outraged by the massive destruction of Gazan lives and society?

I am profoundly offended by Israel's genocide. And I am profoundly offended by your betrayal of a devoted employee for expressing her humanity.

I call on you to reverse the decision. I call on you to apologize to Hesn Jabr and to reinstate her employment.  

Sincerely,

Jo Salas

Why do they fear us?

Come join us; stand with New Paltz Women in Black this and every Saturday between 12:30 and 1:30PM in front of the Elting Library.

Why do they fear us? It’s because they have lost the battle of ideas. Attempts at smearing the movement for a free Palestine as being anti-semitic is no longer a viable trope because this multiethnic, international movement is being lead by Jews with a proud history of fighting injustice.

Now the occupation forces are attacking Rafah, the last possible place for the masses of displaced Palestinians to go. It was supposed to be a safe zone, but It looks more like the rogue state’s “final solution.” It was supposed to have been Biden’s redline. But the genocide continues.. People are being burned alive in their tents. Meanwhile the White House spokespersons, barely able to maintain a straight face, try to tell us otherwise as the flow of weapons continue.

Here in this country, in coordinated attacks, in full military regalia, the full power of the state is on display as police beat and arrest our students. The level of brutality is outrageous. Our children who are the conscience of our society are brutalized by the police. They beat us to silence us. They fire us from our jobs for speaking up for the children being burned alive with white phosphorus and being blown apart with 2000 pound bombs. They drag cowardly college presidents before McCarthyite tribunals. They have lost the battle of ideas so they try to stop the conversation with lies and repression. If you want to know what you would have done during the Nazi genocide, just look at what you are doing now!

The International Criminal Court (ICC) should be and hopefully soon will be including in their prosecution, the war criminals in Washington enabling this genocide: members of our own government which has been funding, arming and giving diplomatic cover to the murderous Zionist regime. As US president Biden has famously stated, “if there were no Israel we would have had to invent one”…it’s like a giant aircraft carrier in that oil-rich region. We, as working people have no interest in the ongoing financing of this racist ethnostate. Our money can be better spent here at home.

Like Naziism and South African Apartheid, Zionism is a cancer. It is a stain on humanity. It is an ideology of hate, of white-supremacy, of ethnic cleansing. And as we watch, live-streamed on our cell phones, GENOCIDE. The Zionist ethnostate is a colonial project that must be and will be defeated and dismantled. And just as the world, collectively, defeated Naziism and Apartheid, we will defeat the hatred that is Zionism, through our collective efforts, which include Boycott, Divestment and Sanctioning (BDS) as well as pressuring and exposing our elected representatives, educating our neighbors and building a sustainable movement to combat this and other hateful ideologies and militarism.

Naomi

I am appalled at NYU's decision to terminate employment of Hesen Jabr.

 

Dear Director Austin Bender:

As a retired Physician Assistant and NYU Graduate, Master's in Public Health, I am appalled at NYU's decision to terminate employment of Hesen Jabr, RN, immediately after she received an award her for her work with bereaved mothers.

In her award acceptance speech, Ms. Jabr referenced the grief experienced by mothers in Gaza at the deaths of their born and unborn children, and regretted that she could not hold their hands as they grieved. She referred to the death of over 36,000 human beings (the majority of those women and children) in Gaza as a genocide. 

A case to charge Israel with the crime of genocide has been brought before the International Court of Justice. Nine countries have signed on to South Africa's case, as well as over 500 Israeli citizens. The court has issued interim rulings ordering Israel to scale back its attacks and increase humanitarian aid, rulings which Israel has ignored.

Anyone who can read a newspaper is aware of the devastating suffering, death and destruction willfully visited on Gaza's civilians and its healthcare system, medical providers and infrastructure. 

NYU Langone's termination of an exemplary employee for expressing pain and horror at these injustices makes me unable to at any time recommend that friends, family, or former patients seek medical treatment at any NYU facility. As an alumni, I will be very sure to make no donations to NYU.

Sincerely,

Marcy London

To The Newshour:

In her 5/27/24 interview by Amna Nawaz, retired Israeli Col. Pnina Baruch stated that Hamas is opposed to peace and that “…if it remains in power [there] would never be a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”  However, in 2006 Khaled Meshal, political leader of Hamas, stated that, “…if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders [between Israel and the Palestinian territories], there could be peace and security in the region…” (“Hamas sets out conditions for peace,” The Guardian 2/8/2006). 

 According to “Israel’s Insane War” by Patrick Seale (The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2009), Meshal reiterated Hamas’ willingness to accept this solution (which implies acceptance of Israel). And in 2017 Hamas again reconfirmed its willingness to do so. (“Hamas accepts Palestinian State With 1967 borders,” Aljazeera.com 5/2/2017. Netanyahu, however, rejected these overtures, claiming Hamas was trying to “fool the world.”  
 
Perhaps it was too much to expect Nawaz to point out Hamas’ peace proposals to Col. Baruch. But it behooves The Newshour to promptly make its viewers aware of them.  
 
Sincerely,
 
Gregory DeSylva

Getting Restless

The empire is getting restless. It's principal ally and war criminal in the Middle East, Netanyahu, is facing arrest by the International Criminal Court. The International Court of Justice has studied the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and identified it as a genocide. Next comes an international embargo by the vast majority of countries in the world that know apartheid and crimes against humanity when they see them.

The empire and Israel were the last two countries in the world supporting Apartheid South Africa. It's a familiar story, two nations willing to commit wanton acts of wholesale murder in the pursuit of military domination and wartime profits.

But the empire is coming apart at the seams. It's newest generation is disgusted at the charnel house of Gaza and is ready to march against racism and colonialism. Two thirds of Americans now side with the victims of Israel's killing machine. Are the times, in fact, a-changing?

New laws are being passed stripping not for profit status from any organization critical of Israel. Churches, colleges and unions could be destroyed for talking about Palestinian human rights. And that's not all. Other laws are being passed identifying all criticism of Israel as antisemitic. The empire will destroy our freedom of speech to keep the slaughter going.

Will America finally wrap itself in the cloak of the Holocaust to silence its worldwide critics. The Zionist billionaires and the white nationalists will have us all goose stepping into this dystopian future. Rise up, fight back!

Fred Nagel

My letter to the Freeman

 My letter to the Freeman -

I want to respond to the comment by Maish Freedman in your article on the Rhinebeck dueling protests of yesterday, May 5. 
He says:

 “Jews have given so much to this country as a people,” “We have been at the forefront and at the front lines of the civil rights movement, the LGBT movement, women’s rights.”

Yes. That is right. And that describes the Jews who were saying "Not in Our Name" and who were defending the owner of Le Petit Bistro. And they were not there just to support his First Amendment Rights. They were there to support his statement, which is their statement, that the destruction in Gaza is horrific, immoral and not worthy of the tenets of Judaism. Questioning  the movement of Zionism, breaking out of the tight web of story built around Zionism, IS NOT ANTISEMITIC.  It is not anti-Jewish. The kind of Jews that Freedman refers to above are davka Not self-hating Jews, but Jews who say "wait a minute! What kind of suffering has the State of Israel caused another people - a people who had nothing to do with the holocaust -  for more that 75 years?" And when I say suffering - it's unimaginable, horrific suffering. Shame.

 

Maddy

Israel is perpetrating a genocidal slaughter

Israel is perpetrating a  genocidal  slaughter on tens of thousands of Palestinians, including babies and  children. The InternationalCourtofJustice (ICJ) is considering genocide charges and arrest warrants for  Israeli leaders.   Israel’s economy is in free fall and thousands of Israeli soldiers have disabling injuries.  Many Israelis are fleeing Israel.  The glorious narratives about Israel are crumbling.  The true nature of Israel has been revealed. Israel is an apartheid state  according to former President Carter, Bishop Tutu and numerous  human rights organizations. 

Israel’s propaganda industry(“hasbara”) spews lies, distortions, and mis-information about beheaded babies, mass sexual assaults and babies in ovens.  All  these deceptions, and countless others,  have been proven to be calculated, inflammatory lies.(thegrayzone.com).

 
Israel, with our tax dollars and support,  has become a  desperate pariah state.   The peaceful, non-violent BDS(boycott, divest, sanctions) movement is pressuring  Israel to: 1. End the brutal decades long military occupation of Gaza/West Bank.  2. Allow Palestinians to return to their stolen land, homes, and farms. 3. Treat Israelis and Palestinians equally.  Israeli leaders like  Finance Minister Smotrich are calling for the extermination of all Palestinians.  Very much like the Nazis called for the extermination of all  Jews.  I pray that  Israel will  stop this criminal genocide and sit down with Palestinians and negotiate a  true and just peace.  The Zionist State of Israel is bankrupt  financially and morally and has been defeated militarily by Hamas.  Hopefully, something positive for Israelis and Palestinians can result from this current  heartbreaking catastrophe.  

Eli Kassirer

These Jews do not speak for me

Dear Editors:

I am a Jewish woman who is appalled at the killing of 40,000 in Gaza by Israel, and the deliberate destruction of universities, homes, hospitals, food and water supplies. I am also appalled at the lack of humanity of the Jewish Community of Rhinebeck. As Jews, they seem to demand sympathy for Hamas' killing of civilians on October 7. Yet they express no sympathy for a Palestinian-American business owner who is heatbroken at the mass killing of his people, most of whom are women and children. Not content with the destruction of Gaza, they seek to destroy a man's business. These Jews do not speak for me.

Sincerely,

Marcy London

How SUNY New Paltz Commemorated the Kent State

Letter to the Editor: How SUNY New Paltz Commemorated the Kent State Massacre

Like many, I am absolutely appalled that, on the eve of the anniversary of the Kent State massacre, Darrell Wheeler, President of SUNY New Paltz, called in, at great waste of tax dollars, State and Town police and the County Sheriff’s office, who then committed felonies against students peacefully assembled to protest college investment in the genocidal regime of Israel. Tents had been removed, and students were quietly sitting on a quad on their own campus, which they and their families have paid for them to attend.

This corruption, of police committing crimes, is untenable. I hope that these students who were the targets of these police crimes will press criminal charges and also sue the pants off every official who was involved in that travesty. I’m also greatly troubled by Mayor Tim Rogers making clear to WAMC news that members of SUNY New Paltz get to have academic freedom solely restricted to mouthing the half-baked disinformation that Mayor Rogers evidently has in his head about US foreign policy and world affairs.

All this indicates how terribly mistaken voters are when they vote Dem/WF  thinking that such candidates will support citizens’ unalienable rights. Nope, Dem office-holders, be they Rogers or Biden, are fully capable of gaslighting and using/excusing physical violence, to deny human rights and, being insidious, are often more effective than their GOP counterparts in so doing. Citizens who care about human and planet rights would be wise to ditch such politicians.

Barbara Kidney

Students and community members who took a stand last night

 Dear friends,

Last night peaceful, non-violent SUNY New Paltz students were brutally set upon and violently assaulted by the NY State Police.  This attack by the troopers  began around 11pm and was led by a snarling, ferocious German Shepherd who was  lunging towards students while the trooper handler tried to hold him back. There were at least three drones hovering above and a police helicopter shining a spotlight on the assembled students and community members.  A phalanx of police  carrying riot clubs approached the students who were sitting peacefully on the ground  in a large circle.  

As the German Shepherd barked and snarled next to the demonstrators, the police attacked the students and began brutally ripping them from the circle and dragging them to the side where two or three officers would violently hold them down and cuff them.  (will try to  send video seperately)  It was a nightmare!  There were screams and shouts as students were assaulted.  While the circle was being assaulted the police had formed a line across Parker Quad and would not permit anyone to pass (including students who lived in the dorm next to the Quad).  

Throughout this encampment the students have been peaceful and non-violent and actually complied with the  college’s one demand which was to take down the tents.  I have been involved in protests like this  for over fifty years and have never witnessed the kind of enthusiasm and intensity displayed by   the police when  attacking and brutalizing the students.  It was horrifying.  For days the students were so optimistic and committed to their demands for divestment and accountability by the college.  Their peaceful encampment and demands were all focused on ending the occupation and genocide being committed by Israel on Palestine.  

Witnessing the attack of innocent students by  militarized, state sponsored thugs draws clear parallels with the encampment known as Gaza and the West Bank - where Palestinians for seventy-five years have been subjected to violent militarized attacks sponsored by the Zionist State of Israel and paid for with your tax dollars.   My prayers go out to those courageous students and community members who took a stand last night and I pray that their injuries are not permanent.  I am including numbers and emails of SUNY New Paltz administrators.   Please call and write them.  Also consider joining New Paltz Women In Black tomorrow from 12:30-1:30 in front of the Elting Library in New Paltz.  

with love,

Eli