Anti-Semites Don’t Care If You Support BDS
Re “Jewish Pupils Shock Audience, Kneel During ‘Hatikvah’ In Protest” (news story, November 30):
Would any Arab or South African “take a knee” to bring awareness to maltreatment of Jews? Would these Jewish students who knelt during “Hatikvah” care if their actions, and those of millions of other liberal misguided Jews, caused the elimination of Israel?
At the end of this anti-Israel demonization campaign, those Jews who “took a knee” or joined the BDS movement will be lumped in with the rest of us as simply “Jews.” Their past solidarity with Palestinians will not carry any weight with our persecutors. They will be labeled simply as “Jews.”
We forget that most German Jews were integral to German society for generations and were more German than Jewish. Then, suddenly, one day, they were not German citizens anymore. They lost their rights and, well… you know how it ended.
Poor misguided students.
Mendi S.
Brooklyn, NY
Election Day Fiasco
Election Day last month was riddled with confusion, malfunctions, long lines, and discouraged voters. The Board of Elections and our Albany lawmakers failed – again.
Like many, I’m frustrated at the state of operations at our City’s Board of Elections, and a major overhaul is long overdue. The most basic of duties – ensuring that voting and scanning machines are in working order – proved to be too difficult for the Board of Elections to handle. Long-time voters found themselves inexplicably removed from the rolls or were, without warning, marked as inactive.
It’s clear that the only solution here is a complete reform of the Board of Elections. No citizen should be unable to exercise his or her most basic American right because of incompetence or technical difficulties. I urge you to join me in asking our state elected officials to insist on a fairer, streamlined voting system.
Voting should be simple and quick. There’s no reason any of us needs to be late to work or take time away from our families to participate in our democratic process.
Councilman Chaim Deutsch
If Only The Measles Vaccine Had Existed
People should get the MMR vaccination. Measles is not a disease you want your children to get. I got it as a child, became very seriously ill, and had to be hospitalized in a semi-quarantined ward for children with a big glass barrier separating patients from visitors.
I wish there had been a measles vaccine back then.
Raymond S. Solomon
Airbnb’s Policy Defies Logic
Under Airbnb’s new policy, an American Jew with a property in the West Bank is barred from listing it for rent on Airbnb’s website. But an American Arab is welcome to list his nearby home a just few hundred yards away.
I would have expected an American company to support our best ally in the Middle East, especially considering how corrupt and undemocratic Arab regimes are. For example, the Palestinian Authority forbids real-estate deals with Jews on the pain of death. Yet, this openly bigoted policy does not seem to bother Airbnb.
Arthur Horn
East Windsor, NJ
Try Winning For a Change
I am not an expert in military strategy or international political diplomacy. However, my instinct tells me the following:
When fighting an implacable enemy, peace can be achieved only when it is imposed by the victor. “When a rodef comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first!” (Sanhedrin 23a).
With that in mind, I believe that Gaza must be subjected to a siege. Nothing (except humanitarian essentials) must be allowed to enter. Civilians who wish to leave should be assisted and protected.
Targeted assassinations of terrorist leadership should be resumed. All known significant military targets must be preemptively and persistently attacked (with civilians warned to abandon the area first).
Israel must pursue the downfall of the Islamo-fascist regime in Persia in with Sunni regimes and the United States. Israel must also continue to aggressively attack any presence of Iran and Hezbollah in Syria. When the Iranian regime falls, its proxies will wither.
We must defeat our enemy, not merely try to keep it “quiet.” Short of victory, Israel will ultimately be destroyed, G-d forbid!
Jerrold Terdiman
Cuomo Didn’t Play It Smart
It should be no surprise to anyone that our Governor Andrew Cuomo came away with a bounced check after meeting with President Trump to make his case for the proposed Gateway Tunnel project.
Governor Andrew Cuomo ran on his opposition to Trump. He spent millions on television advertising portraying Trump as an ultra-right wing conservative whose values will destroy New York and set us back decades.
Is it any wonder, then, that he returned from his recent meeting with Trump regarding the $29 billion Gateway Tunnel with a photo op and no money? He forgot that you get more with honey than you do with vinegar. As a Sicilian, Cuomo should appreciate that Trump has a long memory.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, NY
Alternatives to Airbnb (I)
In light of the recent Airbnb controversy, I would like to inform your readers about a kosher bnb website – chrental – which is up and running. There are other, not-specifically-Jewish alternatives to Airbnb as well, such as Booking.com.
Chaim
Alternatives to Airbnb (II)
After Airbnb’s BDS decision to delist Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria, two Jewish guys put up an awesome new site called KoshBnb, modeled after Airbnb, with hundreds of kosher listings in multiple countries.
This option should really help those who wish to boycott Airbnb.
Chava Shulman
Moral And Immoral Minorities
Helen Freedman’s letter to the editor last week commendably supports those who fight anti-Semitism. It also, however, does a disservice to the Jewish people.
Freedman praises Women’s March founder Theresa Shook for calling some Women’s March members to step down from their positions because their “march drew thousands of innocent women – believing they were fighting for women’s rights – into a trap where they unknowingly supported anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, anti-LGBT…”
Equating Jews with the LGBT community is offensive. Jews have nothing in common with it. Discrimination against a religion and discrimination against a repulsive lifestyle are not the same.
Additionally, defending Israel and the LGBT crowd at the same time is rather odd. The same Torah that condemns homosexual behavior gave us Israel. If the Torah’s condemnation of homosexual behavior means nothing to Freedman, by what right does she believe Jews belong in Israel in the first place?
Josh Greenberger
Brooklyn, NY