Letters to the Editor

05.18.16

Opinion, April 20: “Gutsy Move”

Not Anti-Semitic

Ms. Griffith's letter was not anti-Semitic. Israeli Jews often use "Nazi" to describe their country's treatment of Palestinians. Untactful language or not, Griffith holds up a mirror. Her critics, however, refusing to take responsibility for their reflection, project it onto Griffith, just as the Jewish state projects its inhumane ideology onto Palestinians. With the power to force Israel to end its relentless violations of international law, the American Jewish community chooses instead to support those violations.

Accusations of anti-Semitism are meant to deflect attention from this inhumanity. Current Justice Minister Shaked has called for genocide against the Palestinian people. Large mobs of Israeli Jews often chant "Death to the Arabs."

As a former AIPAC member with relatives living in Jewish settlements, my 10 years of daily research has concentrated on Israeli sources. During that time, I have not encountered one supporter of Israeli policy who has impartially researched the history. Instead they repeat Israel's discredited claims of self-defense, even for the killings of helpless children.

In 1948 Albert Einstein compared Israel's Herut party, led by future Prime Minister Begin, to the "Nazi" party and warned: "from [the terrorist party's] past actions we can judge what it may be expected to do in the future." Herut has become Likud, and PM Netanyahu knowingly incites hatred of Palestinians and anti-Semitism.

Richard Forer
Albuquerque

Shake Off Nationalism

While comparisons between the Israeli occupation and the Nazi genocide are wildly out of proportion, we might remember that even that most great of twentieth-century Jews, Primo Levi, Holocaust survivor, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, repeatedly condemned Israeli treatment of Palestinians, saying that "everybody is somebody's Jew." He openly acknowledged that the behavior of the Israeli military was such as to invite comparison with the Nazi treatment of Jews. "Israel, less and less the Holy Land, more and more the military state," he lamented. For this, he was labeled an anti-Semite by some Israelis.

Primo Levi was surely a great man (and a great Jew) in part because he shook off nationalism and saw his own humanity in others.

Henry Shukman
Santa Fe

Correction

In the state House District 48 "Pop Quiz" (May 11), Linda Trujillo was identified as the president of the Santa Fe Board of Education. She serves on the school board but stepped down as president before filing her candidacy.

SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake, editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530.

Mail letters to PO Box 2306, Santa Fe, NM 87504, deliver to 132 E Marcy St., or email them to editor@sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

Letters to the Editor

Mail letters to PO Box 4910 Santa Fe, NM 87502 or email them to editor[at]sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

We also welcome you to follow SFR on social media (on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and comment there. You can also email specific staff members from our contact page.