I used to respect George Will’s columns, though I often disagreed with his conclusions. But his too-broad description of student demonstrations against the war in Gaza as “antisemitic”in a recent column has erased any confidence I may have had in his fair-mindedness.
You don’t have to be antisemitic to criticize the Israeli government or to oppose what the Israeli military is doing in Gaza. You don’t have to support Hamas to think that Israel’s scorched-earth methods are unacceptable, and you don’t need to be anti-Zionist to deplore Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to accept a two-state solution. Some actions and pronouncements of the student protesters may be ill-advised, but to dismiss them as antisemitic is nothing more nor less than a smear.
I can’t disagree with what Will writes about the stifling political correctness and hypersensitivity prevailing on some college campuses. Like other conservative pundits and politicians I could mention, he can be funny. But his humorous jabs don’t justify turning a deaf ear to the outcries of students about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
I hope the demonstrations will inspire the U.S. government to be more even handed in its response to the tragic Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Allan Smith, Hopewell
Demagogues and dark money
Bravo to those who have tried to set the record straight on appalling protests on college campuses and elsewhere. Obviously, from soft target ivory towers, history has been revised to suit the tide of demagogues screeching inflammatory neo-Nazi and pro-Hamas canards in our once hallowed halls.
Cleverly indoctrinated American students, somehow drawn into the campus chaos, may not be aware that, in 1997, the United States designated Hamas a foreign terrorist organization spreading a second intifada around the world.
Outside agitators, possibly funded with dark money, have brought some campus leadership to their knees. It is cruel, unpatriotic, and irresponsible for journalists to compare the rationale for the historic civil rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements to terror-sponsored chaos in this great nation.
Arthur Fredman, Millburn
Demonstrators should do their homework
Demonstrating college students whodemand that their schools divest from Israel might do well to do their homework. There are fewer than 10 purely defense stocks from Israel listed on U.S. stock exchanges. According to experts, most large investment funds, including those controlled by colleges, do not invest in these stocks anyway.
If the students’ goal is to divest from ALL Israeli companies, that would include many medical, scientific, and internet businesses that also benefit the United States. It would appear that the real purpose of these demonstrations is publicity, not divestiture.
Shirley Allen, Hopewell Township
State comptroller’s doing his job
Regarding the article “(County) Officials ask state to rein in agency that calls out corruption”:
News flash to John Donnadio of the New Jersey Association of Counties, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and friends: Taxpayers want and expect the state comptroller to be aggressive, transparent and, if needed, act like a “bully” when tracking waste and fraud.
As noted in the article, their complaint letter to state Senate President Nick Scutari asking him to rein in the comptroller’s office does not cite factual errors in Acting Comptroller Kevin Walsh’s reports, but seems to express frustration that he recently exposed two alleged fraud scams. Instead of whining, DiVincenzo should identify the woman who collected $130,000 from Essex County in a no-show job involving COVID-19 programs. Why is it a secret? Without facts, we are left to wonder.
I hope Scutari sides with taxpayers, rejects the letter and supports the taxpayer’s watchdog: the Office of the State Comptroller.
Walter Miziuk, Hamilton
Don’t turn back to when abortion was unsafe
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, eliminating the federal right to a safe, legal abortion. Since then, in the most restrictive states, abortion is completely banned or allowed for as few as six weeks with few exceptions.
You might wonder why I am writing this in a New Jersey newspaper, since reproductive policies are very protective in this state. But even though New Jerseyans have those rights now, someone at the federal level can now try to take them away. We must protect the rights of fellow citizens to plan their families on their terms. By that, I mean keeping all reproductive choices available, including when to become a parent, contraceptive use, and availability of in-vitro fertilization.
History shows that people are going to continue to seek abortion access. Desperation leads to back-alley, unsafe solutions. I am a senior citizen, so I remember reading about those horror stories 50-plus years ago.
If you are young, you might not appreciate the pain and harm women and girls suffered before they had safe choices for extremely hard, personal decisions. Novels such as “Looking for Jane” and “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee” remind us of when women were forced to deliver, then often forced to give up for adoption babies they wanted to keep, just because of other people’s religious views. Sadly, art imitates life, often painfully so.
On Nov. 5, please vote for local and federal candidates who support women’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies without government interference.
Candy Banks, Spring Lake
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