Appalling letter
Having studied with Rabbi Mark Levin for several years I am appalled that The Chronicle would publish such an ignorant, juvenile, mean-spirited attack on his integrity such as the one by John Weed in your June 30 letters column.
I realize that a newspaper needs to provide a forum for a variety of conflicting opinions, but these should be restricted to well-reasoned arguments (such as those which appeared in your opinion section on the anti-BDS movement). It is not your function to publish ill-informed, sarcastic letters intended to undermine the public’s respect for our clergy and community leaders. I would expect more from a Jewish publication.
Stu Lewis
Prairie Village, Kansas
Distorting the truth
Jill Jacobs selectively denounces, on free speech grounds, the executive order by New York Gov. Cuomo which prohibits state agencies from doing business with companies that boycott Israel. (June 30, “Anti-BDS law can’t be ‘pro-Israel’ if it tramples on free speech”)
How ironic! She is clearly an ultra-leftist, made clear by her membership in the organizations she so vigorously supports. It is the left that throttles free speech in America. It is the left that threatens to criminalize those who question the global warming hypothesis. It is the left that attempts to criminalize Fox News for sponsoring two presidential debates. It is the left that shuts down college campuses to speakers they oppose. It is the left that cows and intimidates by using political correctness as a bludgeon to silence those who question any of its dogmas.
Another clue to her mindset is her statement that Evelyn Beatrice Hall is the author of the words “I disapprove of what you say … I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Hall is not the author. Hall is a biographer of Voltaire. In her biography of him Hall herself puts these words in quotation marks, clearly indicating she quotes Voltaire. So what? So this. This is a technique commonly used by the left, distorting truth for political reasons, in this case apparently for ultra-feminist reasons, pulling data out of thin air to support their causes. Would that I had space to give all the examples.
Having said all this, she has a point, but one she won’t like. Government indeed has vastly constricted individual rights we once considered sacrosanct. If she were to be as aggressive in her defense of individual freedoms as she is in her protection of the BDS movement, I’d be the first to applaud.
Lee Levin
Overland Park, Kansas
One-sided perspective
The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle provided a full page tribute to a misguided socialist, Bernie Sanders (“A reflective Bernie Sanders, acknowledging Clinton as nominee, talks Trump, Larry David and what moved him to tears,” page 16, June 30).
This publication failed to mention Sanders’ refusal to address AIPAC at its recent annual meeting. Although Sanders allegedly is Jewish, he seems to be bitterly opposed to the safety of the State of Israel and of its citizens. The Chronicle reports that the Democratic National Committee “… allowed him to name five members of the 15-member platform drafting committee.” The article continues to state, “Three of his appointees are Israel critics who are striving to have the platform recognize that Israel is occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank.”
Such a platform has the potential to do enormous harm to our Israeli brethren if fully accepted. I think the writer, Ron Kampeas of JTA News & Features, presents a one-sided perspective. The Chronicle has not yet published opposing opinions.
David S. Jacobs, M.D.
Overland Park, Kansas