This imposed catastrophe implicates all of us
Brooklyn: In a world of abundance, where food waste runs into billions of tons each year and supermarkets overflow with choice, the image of a starving child is not just heartbreaking — it is condemnable. Nowhere is this tragedy more urgent than in Gaza, where children are not just dying from bombs and bullets, but from the slow, agonizing grip of hunger. The deliberate starvation of Gaza’s youngest victims is a human-made catastrophe unfolding before the world’s eyes.
This starvation is not due to drought, natural disaster or lack of global food supply. It is a result of deliberate policies that restrict the flow of food, water, medicine and fuel. Aid trucks are blocked or delayed at border crossings. Agricultural lands and bakeries have been bombed. Fishermen can’t access the sea. Power outages prevent food refrigeration. The collapse of health care means even basic treatment for malnutrition is impossible. What is happening in Gaza is not a failure of logistics, it is a violation of conscience and international law. Where is the world’s moral leadership? Where are the powerful nations who claim to champion human rights and children’s welfare? The silence of many governments is deafening. Some justify their inaction by invoking politics, labeling the entire population as a security threat. But no child should be punished for the politics of adults.
This is not just a Palestinian issue. This is a test of our shared humanity. When the history of our time is written, future generations will ask: What did the world do when Gaza’s children starved? Did we speak? Did we act? Or did we scroll past the images and change the channel? Abrar Hossain
Mental disconnect
Bronx: In his response to Voicer Robert Katz, Voicer Steven Davies condemns Hamas by acknowledging that they invaded Israel on 10/7 and committed numerous atrocities, including kidnapping and murder. Yet somehow, in the very next sentence, he calls Israel’s response unjustified. Talk about cognitive dissonance. Wow. Chuck Shannon
Rally to their defense
Manhattan: Message received. Russian President Vladimir Putin took his gloves off, unleashing his vast fury last week upon Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine and home of the Ukrainian outposts of the country’s European allies who had the temerity to accompany President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his recent personal plea to President Trump for meaningful support to defeat Putin’s war. Ten days since Trump issued his two-week ultimatum for Putin to relent. It was one of the most destructive days in Putin’s war. The time is now for the U.S. to intercede and show its mettle while there is still a Ukraine. Putin has clearly signaled his animosity toward the brave European allies. Only a superpower’s strength and tenacity can quell his war. Time is of the essence. We must stand with Ukraine — now. Susan A. Stark
Tirade of a tyrant
Jackson Heights: It is the absolute height of hypocrisy for Dictator Trump to call anyone a communist. He is the very definition of something just as bad, which is the autocracy/authoritarian rule he has been doing since day one. He has filled his cabinet with unqualified sycophants who are the same as Hitler’s generals who carried out his warped agenda. My kitchen cabinet are more qualified than Trump’s. Wake up, America! Michael Lawrence
At home, then here
Bronx: What Derlis Chusin, the Ecuadorian teenager seized by ICE, endured from his internment goes back to the original evil where he and his family suffered discrimination as Native Americans. Something should be corrected as to Ecuador’s discrimination against natives and their culture and language, especially since a large part of the Ecuadorian population is partly of Native American origin. Arye Barkai
Thinning the herd?
Brooklyn: Could I be forgiven for thinking that the new COVID vaccine restrictions imposed by our seven-month-old Trump 2 government is a move to be released from its obligations to provide Medicaid and Medicare to elderly Americans, particularly those with pre-existing conditions? After all, the dead need no health care or Social Security. Ed Temple
A tortured mind
Scarsdale, N.Y.: According to an Associated Press story appearing in your newspaper (“Motive remains mystery in killing of kids in Minn. Catholic school,” Aug. 29), the motive behind the attack on Catholic schoolchildren remains a mystery. Nonsense. It was hatred, which is why the crime is being investigated as domestic terrorism. The shooter was suffering from mental illness. Nothing mysterious about it. When a biological man identifies as a woman, it is because of mental illness, which should disqualify a person from owning a weapon. Peter McCarthy
What did they suffer?
Hamden, Conn.: The Annunciation School shooter attended that school as Robert and changed her name to Robin in 2020. Her mother worked as a secretary at the church for five years, signed her permission for the change, and retired at a young age in 2021. Does anyone know how much hatred was directed at them over the last five years? Petra Peter Gardella
Send in the troops
Howard Beach: Mayor Adams, let the people vote for Trump to bring in the troops. How many more innocent, good people must die before this madness stops? Why must you fear walking the streets of the Bronx and other areas in New York City? How long are you going to stop troops from entering our city to protect us and make us feel safe again? It’s working in D.C., crime is down 87%. People are walking the streets there with more confidence and reassurance that they are safe. This is America, we demand safety and peace of mind, not the fear of losing the life of a loved one or yourself! Mayor Adams, you are not a Democrat anymore. This move will make you a real hero. This is not a question of agreeing with Trump, but making the decision to protect the citizens of NYC. Do the right thing! Nick Di Pasquale
Scared off
Brooklyn: Recently while on the Boardwalk in Coney Island, four tourists from Germany asked me where they could find a good restaurant to have lunch. I was on my way to the Surf City Pizzeria and they offered to buy me lunch. During the meal, they told me they were cutting their visit short because they felt very unsafe in the city. They said the subway was especially frightening, and during their stay many people were shot. They wanted to go to Luna Park but were afraid, and were going to take an Uber back to their hotel. This is sad and not the first time I’ve heard this story. The next day, I heard a man shot another man with a crossbow in Brooklyn. What could I say? Louie Scarcella
Preaching from privilege
Sunnyside: Just a couple of questions for Zohran Mamdani: If you are going to seize private property, will yours and your family’s be first? If you are going to “defund the police,” will your own NYPD protective detail be first? How about your wealth, high-paying government job and lucrative benefits? Are you willing to give them up for the working class? Somehow, I am not holding my breath. The champagne socialists rule the day. Patrick E. Rudden
A quick death
Port Washington, L.I.: To Voicer James Scotto: I agree about the glue traps. I lived in Queens more than 10 years ago and there was a big gap around one of the pipes. The mice got in. Since then, I’ve moved to Long Island and I’ve never seen a mouse in my home. I found a humane way to eradicate them: the Rat Zapper, a high-tech solution. One places nuts or peanut butter at one end of the device and as the mice cross over a metal plate (powered by batteries) to get the food, they’re electrocuted immediately. One never has to touch the mouse, just tip it into the garbage. I’ve shown it to many people and they were so happy to know about it. One person had been trying to catch a mouse for weeks and I lent mine to them. The mouse was caught the next day. It also catches small rats. Caroline Christie
