Where is The News on Gaza’s forced starvation?
Chicago: We are writing to urge your newsroom to address the mounting international and domestic consensus that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, and that such actions now meet the legal definition of genocide.
In the past week, the situation has escalated to a moral and political turning point. Two leading Israeli human rights organizations, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, have publicly declared that Israel’s siege and destruction of Gaza’s food systems constitute genocide. More than 170 NGOs have confirmed that mass starvation is spreading, while the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has warned that the “worst-case famine scenario” is already unfolding. Thirty-one prominent Israeli officials and intellectuals, including a former attorney general and ex-Knesset speaker, have called for crippling international sanctions against Israel. More than 40 Senate Democrats, including Adam Schiff and Chuck Schumer, have called on the administration to act with urgency and rein in the failing Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a surprising but revealing voice, called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide. The president of J Street says he is convinced it’s a genocide.
These developments reflect a historic shift in public discourse and present an urgent opportunity for leading media institutions to respond with clarity and courage. The deliberate starvation of a civilian population must not be softened by euphemism or buried under false equivalence. We are urging the Daily News to confront the severity of what is happening in Gaza and hold U.S. institutions accountable for their complicity or silence. Hena Zuberi, director, and Walaa Katoue, media officer, Justice for All
Propaganda projection
Brooklyn: To Voicer Lloyd Litwak: Sir, you are delusional to the point that you can’t see the hand in front of your face. Stop streaming the Israeli news service, which has occupied your mind. Israel has mastered the art of always playing the victim. “They did not start the war”? Israel was controlling/restricting/starving Gaza by controlling the borders and slowly killing everybody there before Oct. 7. After the attack, Israel had the shock of the world and, unfortunately, the U.S., which gave it the OK to accelerate its goal to completely wipe out the Palestinians. “Most barbaric mass murder since the Holocaust” — Israel now owns that title. You are still reaching for the same nonsense that Israel has been feeding you. I feel sorry for you. Jim Carney
Loyal Americans
Manhattan: Allow me one clarification to Paul Newman’s excellent essay (“Harry Truman’s tough decision to bomb Hiroshima,” op-ed, Aug. 6). As he writes, Japanese immigrants were barred from becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. But their American-born children were citizens by birth, not naturalization. Even after Pearl Harbor, when hatred of all things Japanese was at its height, no one in the American government even suggested attempting to revoke that citizenship, although Japanese-Americans were given the opportunity to renounce it. Only a handful did. Thousands more enlisted in the American military, in which one of their units, the 442nd Infantry Regiment, became the most decorated of the war fighting in Europe. Michael Barnhart
Impotent pressure
Stratford, Conn.: How much stupider can New Yorkers be (see parole boards releasing cop killers, jurors coming up with not guilty verdicts on all types of cases, Alvin Bragg releasing all kinds of criminals with no bail)? Abolish nukes? Because some people with time on their hands painted a few signs? Yeah, like Russia, India, Iran and others will see these signs and say, “Hey, you’re right, we will destroy all our nukes.” Boy, has that worked before. Hey protesters, get a job! Peter Sulzicki
Trumped-up tariffs
Ridgewood, N.J.: President Trump’s tariffs against the EU, India and Brazil have the potential to drive each closer to Beijing. He would be wise to have a win-win with the EU and not intervene in the sovereign rights of India and Brazil over the purchase of energy from Russia and the pending prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Ed Houlihan
No checks
New City, N.Y.: When is the GOP group of puppets going to stand up to the vindictive bully in chief? He has no regard for the Constitution. He is very good at name-calling and has a foul mouth. He didn’t like the jobs report so he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He lost the 2020 election, so he said it was rigged. He has made inane comments, such as suggesting making Canada the 51st state, saying Ukraine started the war and that he is going to take Greenland, among many other comments. He has pardoned felons for no other reason than they support and love him. Hopefully, his MAGA supporters will see him for what he is: a dictator. In answer to my first question, I believe congresspeople and senators are not gullible, naïve or stupid. They are just gutless and will not stand up to Trump. Dolph Rotter
Backward turn
Bronx: I have experienced racism in this country since the day I was born. I encountered it in school, in the military, on jobs and as a police officer. But the country was moving in a positive direction under the two previous presidential administrations. When the Lying King duped millions to steal an election, we reverted to slavery times. He does not care about a fair economy, allies, human rights, racial justice, national health, climate control or the law. This convicted felon is thin-skinned, petty, revengeful, jealous of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and a cowardly bully. He is also a demagogue who admires and emulates dictators. And he worships the Confederacy, the KKK and white supremacists. America needs to wake up before it’s too late. Alfred Williams
‘Dazzling’?
Scarsdale, N.Y.: On Sunday, Mike Lupica described Juan Soto as a “dazzling” hitter (“Yankees, Mets deliver for their fans at trade deadline,” column, Aug. 3). Did the Mets sign another player named Juan Soto? John Kern
Life sentence
Brooklyn: Monday’s online evening edition, which my girlfriend and I enjoy reading with our subscription, had an article on the most notorious prisons you can visit. One was Sing Sing in Westchester. The article spoke of “Old Sparky,” the prison’s electric chair, and included “Son of Sam” David Berkowitz as one of its victims. News flash! Berkowitz is alive and well, doing life incarcerated at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Ulster County. Please make the correction. William R. Sarnataro
Exodus of talent
West Sayville, L.I.: There may be a side benefit if Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor. The Little Leagues of Nassau County will be able to rent Citi Field for very low prices when no MLB players will be willing to pay taxes as proposed by Mamdani. They will all leave. Concerts at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium will be completely out for the same reason. No Beyoncé and no Taylor Swift. You can forget the Broadway theaters. They won’t exist. Performers getting to the top won’t be able to earn any money. It will all go to Mamdani. F. Bodkin
Real residency
Bronx: To Voicer Robert Brennan: You keep an apartment in NYC and work here. Do you pay city taxes on your salary or do you claim Pearl River as your primary residence and pay zip? Also, is your apartment rent-regulated? W. Twirley
Street-smart
Brooklyn: I have the perfect idea for a new app: “The Horrors of Bus Driving in NYC.” My heroes are NYC bus drivers. The obstacles and hazards they encounter on a daily basis are mind-boggling. I watch in awe as they maneuver around illegally parked cars blocking their passage through narrow streets, oblivious cell phone users, e-bikes and your normal amount of unconscientious pedestrians. That’s not even mentioning the physical abuse they sustain from disgruntled or mentally challenged riders. How they contend with this on a daily basis is worthy of awards, especially the women bus drivers. Please keep up the good work, and whatever their salaries are should be doubled. Mary Somoza
