The ‘moral inversion’ is any support for this
Manhattan: Re “Teach your kids resilience, before they’re taught something else” (op-ed, Aug. 24): I lose hope every day for the Jewish community when op-eds like these are printed. To call what’s happening in Gaza “fair and just” is a poor attempt at gaslighting. Noa Tishby is upset because our youth are seeing what Israel is doing for what it is: a genocide. It is the complete and total eradication of Palestine. Palestinians have been plunged into famine and will most likely never recover. Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, and this will be remembered.
I have always been an avid student of the Holocaust. After watching “Shoah” a few years back, I told my husband that we would see a day when Israel would wreak havoc on the world as payback for the borders closed to them in their most dire need. The people leading Israel are the children and grandchildren of the most PTSD-affected people on Earth. They most certainly did not forget. They waited to get payback.
This is a genocide. It does not make you an antisemite to say so, and that narrative needs to stop. We are turning our backs on leaders for pushing those lies of antisemitism, and we will turn our backs on family and friends who perpetuate them. The power of social media cannot be ignored and the narrative cannot be controlled. Social media is showing the world the truth: Israel is seeking to do exactly what their greatest enemy tried. And we are allowing and aiding them in this crime against humanity. Free Palestine. T.S. Fallani
Double-tap atrocity
Swarthmore, Pa.: On Monday, the news of Israel’s latest attack on a Gazan hospital has turned even more awful and ghastly than ever. The IDF launched a deadly drone strike on the hospital’s staircase where journalists are known to congregate for the better Wi-Fi signal available there. Unbelievably, after other journalists rushed to the same staircase, the IDF launched a second drone attack that killed even more innocent journalists just trying to do their jobs. This is wrong and should be — must be — condemned in the courts of public opinion worldwide. President Trump, stand up and speak out, and use U.S. leverage to pressure Netanyahu to end his assault in Gaza and, until then, to exercise more discretion and humanity in how he conducts his drone attacks. Ken Derow
No one to stop it
Woods Cross, Utah: Here is an embarrassing fact about evil in the world today. Evil resides as much in America and Israel as it does in Russia and China. The U.S. is entirely complicit with Netanyahu to starve and kill children and civilian adults in Gaza. What is being covered up by media and politicians alike is that the purpose of the starvation campaign is to make life so miserable that Gazans will finally want to leave more than they want to stay in Gaza. Netanyahu and Trump have made it clear they want to own and develop Gaza for their own purposes. Killing tens of thousands of people is no impediment for them. Only a highly humanitarian, well-educated and civically active people will be able to stop this disaster. No such citizenry can be found in this country or in Israel today. Kimball Shinkoskey
Target: minorities
Manhattan: Coming soon to a city near you / If you have a Black governor or mayor or population / Armed troops, the National Guard, militarized streets / Just another racist, hateful order by the Trump administration / One more blatant step / On the steady path to fascism / Call it what you will / America is on the road to neo-Nazism. Phoebe Celentano
Pipeline impacts
Brooklyn: Why do arguments in favor of building more gas infrastructure omit any mention of their environmental and climate impact? So it is with “N.Y’s energy program needs all of the above” (op-ed, Aug. 19). Gary LaBarbera makes a familiar argument for the short-term gain in jobs by building new pipelines but says nothing about the dire effects of burning all the new gas they will deliver: adding heat to the atmosphere and noxious pollution to the air we breathe. His essay is timed to support a reevaluation extorted by Trump’s EPA of the NESE pipeline, which was repeatedly rejected as harmful to New York’s water quality and for violating New York’s Climate Law mandating decarbonization. It is disingenuous to claim only positives from new pipelines without mentioning why these pipelines were rejected in the first place. Come on, Gov. Hochul, we need you to stand up to this Trump-mandated extortion. Becky Plattus
Cutting school
Jackson Heights: My child attends a public school in Queens where many families struggle with poverty and other challenges. The federal budget negotiations are starting soon. Federal funds provide after-school care, English language support, mental health services and technology resources that give kids a chance at the American dream. Without these programs, many of our students will fall through the cracks. Our children deserve opportunities for better lives. I hope that readers will call their members of Congress and tell them to support our students by saying no to Trump’s federal cuts to our local public schools. Amanda Vender
Brava, diva!
Freeport, L.I.: As a Metropolitan Opera subscription member for decades, I’ve heard the world’s best singers. However, none could possibly top Ghislaine Maxwell’s paean to pedophiles. Five stars for her performance! Bob Sterner
Getting to eat
East Elmhurst: To Voicer Leslie Langer: So, poor people should choose between owning a car and going to food pantries? A few years ago, I read about an erstwhile middle-class family that lost its income. As they started frequenting food banks, they decided not to trade in their good-running car for a cheaper but less reliable vehicle. I agree. I don’t drive, but before COVID-19 hit, when I was physically stronger, I used to wheel my shopping cart to the food banks in East Elmhurst (sometimes taking the bus), or ride the bus using tote bags. However, I’m single and childless. Imagine those people in food deserts, or in neighborhoods with less frequent public transportation, with children, transporting food without a car? These folks probably need their cars to drive to low-paying jobs, take kids to school, visit relatives or attend free or low-cost events. Why begrudge them the transportation they need? Melanie Lee
Cruel comment
Massapequa, L.I.: To Voicer Leslie Langer: Seriously, just because people can put gas in their cars does not mean they can put food on the table. “Ban them from all pantries” really tells what type of human being you are. My blood is still boiling. Judi Bruch
Moral lapse
White Plains, N.Y.: Voicer Leslie Langer concludes that those who pick up food at food pantries in cars are not destitute and so should not take advantage of these pantries. She overlooks the possibility that someone (car owner) is picking up food for someone destitute without a car, or that an owner can give rides to others who are destitute. Or that a destitute person can borrow a friend’s car, or that several destitute people can chip in to share a car rental, or that a destitute person could’ve owned that car maybe a year ago and then came upon bad times and became destitute. I don’t presume that Leslie is a bad person for her one callous, unthinking comment, but I instead allow that she had a valid reason for posting so unsympathetically. Chris Lee
To be happy
Howard Beach: “What is happiness? For all that science has achieved in the field of materialism, are the peoples of the world happy? They may find sensual pleasures off and on, but in their heart of hearts, they are not happy when they realize what has happened, what is happening and what may happen next. Why? This is because, while man has mastery over matter, he is still lacking in mastery over his mind.” — Sayagyi U Ba Khin (a late Burmese meditation teacher). Ernest Kienzle
