My Letter to the Pennsylvania Gazette
Dear Editor:
The events in and around the University of Pennsylvania in recent months have reflected a terrifying and tragic turn for my once beloved alma mater. There is no reason to belabor a point that has been made so strongly and eloquently by so many, but I will briefly note that I share in the sad realization that Penn has veered far from the safe and tolerant place of vibrant intellectual openness and discourse that I attended nearly 25 years ago. Whether Penn has truly lost all sense of decency and morality, or it has been simply paralyzed in cowardice before the ominous threat of unbridled mob violence, it matters little. Penn has abandoned the safety of all of its Zionist and Jewish students today, and who knows if it will soon do the same for all those who are openly threatened and intimidated by others tomorrow.
I remember so vividly the admissions process when I was a high school student. I remember the mailings and the applications, the waiting, and finally the letter of acceptance. I kept all my related Penn promotional and acceptance materials for years, and I think gaining admission to Penn remains one of my life’s greatest achievements. Nonetheless, in the last few months, I have been so deeply disappointed and have lost my stomach for Penn. Accordingly, and effective immediately, I ask that you stop sending me digital and mail copies of the Gazette.
I certainly hope that the time soon comes that Penn may again approach the very lofty promise of its motto and conduct itself in such a way that its laws are rendered meaningful by its morality.
Jonathan Kohn, proud Jew, Zionist, and Israeli citizen
SAS, ’02
Yad Binyamin, Israel
Dear Editor:
Looking past the overt anti-Semitism of Hamas supporters, the main contention of these supporters appears to be the claim that the IDF is murdering innocent Palestinians in Gaza. While civilian casualties are inevitable when they are being used by Hamas as human shields, it’s worth examining just how “innocent” these Palestinians are.
First, they elected Hamas terrorists to govern them. Second, there’s plenty of polling data that shows that the genocidal beliefs of Hamas are shared by Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Neither believe in a two-state solution, as both long for one Palestinian state with all Jews eliminated. Lastly, there is a plethora of video evidence showing Gazan civilians breaking through the border on October 7 to loot the possessions of Jews after they were massacred by Hamas. There is also a trove of video evidence showing civilians celebrating the massacre, parading in the streets, handing out candies, as well as cheering on the Hamas terrorists that paraded Jewish hostages through the streets of Gaza. Conspicuously absent were any Palestinian protests of Hamas’ barbaric actions.
It is also worth pondering why no neighboring Arab country will take Palestinian women and children refugees into their countries. Under normal circumstances, one might be astonished at the cruelty these countries exhibit in denying women and children a temporary place to stay, given their plight. It turns out these neighboring Arab countries, like Israel, know exactly what the Palestinians are all about and do not want any part of them.
The Palestinian “education” system teaches tender age children that Israel needs to be wiped out and all Jews murdered. I’m not suggesting that these Arab countries all love Israel, but their actions in closing their borders to Palestinian women and children speak a lot louder than any public pronouncements they have in support of Hamas vs. the “evil Zionist entity.” These countries are happy using the Palestinians as cannon fodder in a war vs. Israel, and their hardline rejection to importing them reveals that the Palestinians are just being used here as useful pawns. It is clear that the geographic neighbors of the Palestinians understand them a lot more than the ignorant supporters of Palestinians here in the West.
Avi Goldberg
Dear Editor:
The time is long overdue for the CEOs of major Jewish organizations to take out a full-page ad to shame Chuck Schumer into publicly and loudly condemning – by name – the anti-Semitic members of his party.
Speaking before a safe, Jewish audience doesn’t cut it. (He’s like the shy Chabad kid, on his first day on the street, who asks men with a yarmulka if they put on t’filin that morning.)
Are we so blinded by government handouts that we still refuse to confront our Judenrat with hard decisions?
Schumer is the emperor without clothes and should not be invited to our dinners and treated as a “shomer Yisrael.”
Michael Horowitz
Fresh Meadows, New York
Dear Editor:
In response to the favorite slogan of the pro-Hamas demonstrators, I offer the following:
From the Sea to the River
From the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River,
The Army of Hashem – the IDF – will make Hamas quiver.
Hashem, our G-d, will display His great might,
And our enemies will run in fear, by day and by night.
Our enemies will surrender and lay down their arms,
Not another Jew in Israel will face any harm.
On that blessed day we will all see shalom,
And we’ll live in peace in Eretz Yisrael – our Eternal Home.
Barry Koppel
Kew Gardens Hills, New York
Dear Editor:
Thousands of Israelis from evacuated cities in the South and North of the country are now being housed in settlements across the “Green Line.”
Jewish settlements in biblical Judea and Samaria have been constantly depicted as preventing peace in the Middle East. But as the Arabs fire thousands of rockets at Israeli cities inside the Green Line, they conspicuously ignore the putative “illegal” Jewish settlements across it.
Thus, it is clear that despite what they have falsely propagandized the international community to believe, the Arabs don’t regard the settlements to be the crucial problem. Rather it is the existence of Israel itself.
May G-d speedily help protect the Jewish people from all our adversaries!
Sincerely,
Henry Moscovic
Flushing, New York
Dear Editor:
Joe Biden is a liar, a fraud, a hypocrite, and lacks a moral compass. Everyone who knows him knows this. He traced his candidacy for President in 2020 entirely to a march of white supremacists in Charlottesville. He has claimed for years that a small group of fringe lunatics screaming “Jews will not replace us” was the impetus for his Presidential run. So how much of a moral coward and hypocrite is Biden when in response to the thousands of people on college campuses all over the country marching in support of Hamas’ slaughter of 1,500 Jews, he trots out his untalented Press Secretary to make a freedom of speech argument on behalf of all these Jew-haters?
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked a simple question about the President’s thoughts on the rampant rise in anti-Semitism across the country. Jews make up about two percent of the population yet are the victims in 51% of the hate crimes on record. The question should have been a layup, even for someone as untalented as her – the type of question you knock out of the park. Instead, she looked down to her notebook for the right answer. The fact that she doesn’t possess the moral clarity to answer that question on her own is disturbing enough. But after scanning her notebook, she could only conjure up a response about how the White House will not tolerate Islamophobia! That’s the type of answer you’d expect to hear from the “cycle of violence” talking heads on CNN and MSNBC, Jean-Pierre’s two most likely employers after she finishes up her stellar work on behalf of the American public.
In more local news, Jews were told to stay indoors on Shabbos due to a March in Brooklyn in support of the Palestinians. Shame on Eric Adams, shame on Kathy Hochul, and shame on the writers in this fine newspaper who have supported these two fools. There is no way Mayor Curtis Sliwa or Governor Lee Zeldin would have cow-towed to a group of terrorist-supporting anti-Semites by telling Jews to hide in their own homes. Some have compared the message sent out to Jews to lie low this weekend to the Crown Heights riots of 1991, when police, under then-Democrat Mayor David Dinkins, stood down while allowing hooligans to run wild for three days and terrorize the Jews of Crown Heights. Others more ominously stated it had a 1930s Germany feel to it.
Either way, the tolerance shown by our local Democrat elected officials for Hamas supporters has gone too far. None of this should be surprising, considering the Democratic Party’s well-documented tolerance of anti-Semitism within their own ranks. Let’s hope this provides a wakeup call for the knee-jerk Democrat Jews of New York to finally say enough is enough and vote out these despicable Democrats. I for one, am not holding my breath on that one.
Jason Stark
Biden Funded Iran
Dear Editor:
Former Navy SEAL turned Congressman Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin recently visited Israel. After observing the killing fields of October 7, he stated, “This is ISIS times 1,000.” That’s quite a statement considering what this man witnessed in combat as a Navy SEAL. Van Orden also blasted President Biden’s decision to hand $100 million in aid to Palestinians in Gaza, because of the mixed message it sends to the world.
He correctly noted that neither England nor the United States sent humanitarian aid to Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, or Imperial Japan during the war. I have noticed many people praising President Biden for his support of Israel. Some shuls even organized letter-writing campaigns to thank the President for his support. While I understand the need to show hakaras ha’tov to the President for whatever support he provides Israel, we should understand that it was the United States that bankrolled the horrific attacks of October 7. Hamas was a Mickey Mouse organization that lacked the funds, the training, and infrastructure to pull off what they did without all the support they received from Iran. And it was Joe Biden who sent billions of US taxpayer dollars to Iran. If it’s politically expedient for the Jewish community to thank the President, then so be it; but let’s not forget who bankrolled the massacre of October 7.
Jonathan Goldgrab
Dear Editor:
Depression. That’s what usually ensues when you can’t tell the difference between Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D. It hits you when you point your eyes to the pavement, afraid that you’re going to fall and break some bone. It envelops you when you have a different doctor for every part of your body. Finally, depression usually takes over when you open the front door on Shabbos, and it’s pouring outside for the seventh consecutive week.
However, the depression that all of us are prey to is the situation in Israel. This is accompanied by consecutive hours of TV-viewing, switching between CNN and Fox. Even your remote is begging you to stop watching the news. You wonder how the talking heads can keep saying the same thing 24 hours a day. “Imminent incursion” is repeated so often you wonder if they’re taking bets as to when it will occur.
So, the age-old question is what we can do about this depression. We can replace it with action. If you generally speed through your davening, slow down. If you show up to shul 20 minutes late, show up 20 minutes early. If you promised to learn a sefer or parshah for Shavuos, don’t wait until Rosh Chodesh Sivan to do it.
With my limited yeshivah knowledge of Hebrew, I remembered that despair is “yei’ush” (with an alef). However, redemption is “y’shuah” (with an ayin). Similar words but worlds apart. Let’s daven for the latter and leave the former behind.
Debbie Horowitz
Dear Editor:
I want to commend all the Richie-Torres-type defenders of Israel and the CEOs who are stopping their contributions to Ivy League schools who condone the anti-Semitism that we are seeing in abundance now, and to the law firm that pulled the job offer from the head of the CUNY law student organization who spewed pro-Hamas propaganda. But all of these young haters of Israel and America will grow up and they will ascend to power as we’re seeing the DSA people already doing, and they will bring their hate of Israel and America into government and the business world much more than there is already.
This is a cancer that must be addressed from the root, and slapping it down in the present will not extinguish the embers of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism that are burning underneath.
Politicians must get sober and vigilant about what is being taught to students in the public schools and in the universities. Condemning anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism is not enough; it must be rooted out from our school system.
Abe Fuchs
Lying And Incompetence Of Biden Administration
Dear Editor:
Former Vice President of the RJC David Pecoraro accuses other letter-writers of “blind hatred of Joe Biden,” but it appears the only one who has the blinders on is Mr. Pecoraro himself. In less than three years, the Biden administration has created many crises. What is so maddening about each crisis this administration creates is that they continue to lie and gaslight their way through it and then tell us how awesome everything is. Case in point: Inflation. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre can happy-talk her way through this, but the indisputable fact is our spending power has gone down almost 20 percent since Biden took office. Amazingly, all we hear about inflation is how it has gone down, thanks to Bidenomics, whatever that is. In summary: Bidenomics is responsible for inflation going down; Bidenomics had nothing to do with inflation skyrocketing out of control as soon as Biden ascended to the Presidency.
Another example of the Biden administration lying their way through a hot mess they created is the issue of illegal immigration. Despite the current estimates at eight million illegal immigrants entering our open borders since Biden took office, including many on the terror watch list, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas continues to state that the border “is secure.”
Perhaps the most egregious example of the current administration’s toxic mix of deception and ineptitude comes from Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. In the days leading up to the brutal attacks of October 7, Sullivan stated: “The Middle East is quieter than it has been in decades. We have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of its absence.” Um, how’s that one working out?
Mr. Pecoraro has labeled other writers’ critiques of the current administration’s failings as “unhinged,” but they are far more tethered to reality than any of the fantasized, grandiose, and phony claims Mr. Pecoraro has made with respect to the colossal failures of our pathetic President and his incompetent administration.
Doniel Behar
Dear Editor:
Once again, I cannot disagree with Moshe Hill’s condemnation of co-religionists who are pro-Hamas.
I also support the recent House resolution in support of Israel, which received almost universal support. I thank my Congressman Greg Meeks for helping lead the passage as the Ranking Member and past Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. I unequivocally condemn those few Democrats and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky who voted against the resolution.
I would also support a censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib for her continued lies about the PIJ bombing of a Gaza hospital. I have previously supported primarying Rashida and I am currently part of a group working to replace her and the rest of her fellow “Squad” members.
Where I diverge is when Miss Jewish Space Lasers, Marjorie Taylor Greene, accuses Rep. Tlaib of leading an insurrection as a result of Rashida’s support for a truly stupid but peaceful pro-Hamas protest in the Capitol. I refuse to be lectured by the truly unhinged January 6 insurrectionist from Georgia who actually live-tweeted the location of Speaker Pelosi during the Trump-inspired armed terrorist attack on our Capitol, as well as fellow readers Avi Goldberg and Jonathan Goldgrab who excuse Trump’s and Greene’s well-documented anti-Semitic histories.
Thus, I support the well-documented censure resolution against the mountain of anti-Semitic rantings of Rep. Greene that was submitted on October 26 by Vermont Representative Becca Balint – and so should Avi and Jonathan and all Jews who condemn anti-Semitic hate speech.
I also refuse to be lectured by readers like Martin Berkowitz, who put protecting Trump ahead of protecting Israel. I don’t hate Trump over Iran. I despise him for his more than 50 years of criminal activity that has led to over 90 felony charges in four different locations, including lies that led to the terrorist attack on January 6, which included anti-Semites wearing Camp Auschwitz shirts and resulted in the deaths of Capitol Police. And yes, I do support the rights of LGBTQ+ people, including members of my family. They are all Americans who deserve the fundamental right to love whom they wish – and shame on you Martin for not!
As for Jason Stark, who clearly still worships at the altar of the orange anti-Semite, my views against terror against Israel date back to watching the Six-Day War in 1967, when as a seven-year-old, I watched the coverage in terror at my late mom’s side. I attended the Kew Gardens Hills vigil for those harmed by the genocidal Hamas attack that was organized by my Borough President (and former Councilmember) Donovan Richards, Jr. – did you, Jason?
President Biden has been a true friend of Israel and Jewish Americans for his nearly half-century of service to our nation. He has taken each of his children and his grandchildren to learn about the horrors of the Shoah at Auschwitz once they reached age 14. Joe has made his support of Israel after the Hamas attack so crystal clear that true leftists have castigated him (and me).
Meanwhile, Trump’s history of anti-Semitic tropes includes his 2016 ad against Hillary Clinton that criticized her for accepting campaign funds from Jewish donors. In 2019, he called Jewish Democrats uninformed and disloyal. In 2020, he asserted he moved the US Embassy in Israel “for the Evangelicals,” presumably because they’re more loyal. In 2022, he implored American Jews to “get their act together on Israel before it’s too late” because 75 percent of American Jews wisely rejected his hatred and incompetence in favor of thankfully electing a mentch like Joe Biden. Recently, he alleged that liberal Jews voted to “destroy America & Israel,” warning us to “make better choices moving forward.” He even posted a repost of “Hezbollah is smart – and so is Trump” on October 27.
Again, given the choices between continuing to back anti-Semitic Trump and our steadfast ally Joe Biden, readers like Jonathan, Avi, Martin, and Jason have decided to place their irrational hatred of Joe Biden ahead of any love they claim for Israel and America. That is a shonda that I have never been guilty of.
David S Pecoraro
Former Vice President
Rosedale Jewish Center
Rosedale, Queens, New York
Dear Editor:
Politicians should be changed as often as diapers, because most are full of you know what! Remember this on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7, before voting.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Great Neck, New York
Dear Editor:
I would like to respond to Warren Hecht’s article “We Knew.” On one hand, Warren laments about the anti-Semitism on college campuses. On the other hand, Warren votes for the very same politicians who are responsible for it. Case in point, Warren supports Biden and hates Trump. This is despite the fact that Trump signed an executive order banning anti-Semitism on college campuses. Biden refused to denounce it. Even now, when many students are calling for “Nazi Genocide” against the Jews, Biden is showing little or no concern. Contrast that to Trump, who is calling for the DOJ to take strong action against these Nazi students. Of course, the DOJ only knows how to prosecute Trump and conservatives, so no action will be taken.
When Lee Zeldin was running for governor of New York, he promised to end anti-Semitism at CUNY by threatening to cut funding to CUNY. Hochul refused to make such a pledge. Warren supported Hochul. Warren got his wish. Hochul won and anti-Semitism at CUNY increased.
Now we get to October 7. Biden did make a strong speech in support of Israel and is supplying military aid. However, Biden refuses to change pro-Iranian policies. From day one, Biden has declared a war against oil production in the US. In addition, Biden has reduced sanctions on Iran and supported boycotts against Israel. This has made this country weak and made Iran strong. Warren is happy with this state of affairs and is urging us to vote for Biden and the Dems.
David Pecoraro is even worse. He is a strong supporter of left-wing groups such as BLM and LGBTQ+, even though these groups support the Hamas genocide. The majority of the Democratic Party refuses to condemn the Nazi “Squad,” yet Warren and Pecoraro want the Dems to win elections. Warren and Pecoraro should just admit that they care more about the Left than Israel and the Jews.
Martin Berkowitz
