Kudos for the choice of letters on the subject of support for Israel (Oct. 12). While I disagree with some of her conclusions and arguments, especially her citation of the International Criminal Court and misunderstanding of issues concerning targeting and proportionality in wartime, the letter from Christina Moore (“Compatible moral obligations”) is a serious attempt to address difficult moral issues rationally.
The letter from David L. Blatt (“Support is slap in the face”) is quite the contrary: He concludes that a failure to support Israel’s actions or oppose Palestinian organizations is a “slap in the face” to the Jewish population. While I would never support Daniel Biss for dogcatcher, much less congressman, after his time as our mayor here in Evanston, nothing in Blatt’s letter describes a rational reason to oppose him. It just says, in effect, that Biss should support Israel, right or wrong.
The world is not so simple.
— Vincent Flood, Evanston
Personal attacks inexcusable
Letter writer David L. Blatt takes exception to the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsement of Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss in the 9th Congressional District to succeed retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
Blatt says the endorsement is a “slap in the face” to the Jewish community. He doesn’t stop there. He calls out Biss’ association with J Street, which Blatt characterizes as an “anti-Israel organization” in spite of its explicit identification as a pro-Israel group with a long-standing commitment to justice for Palestinians and Israeli Jews and a two-state solution. And he condemns Biss’ decision to allow a pro-Palestinian group to march in the Evanston Independence Day Parade. To top it off, Blatt calls into question Biss’ commitment to his own Jewish identity, writing of Biss’ “nominal connection with the Jewish faith.”
In these fraught times, it is easy to get carried away with one’s emotions, especially regarding the thorny Israel-Palestine question, and there are certainly extremists on both sides of the debate, as well as people, Jewish, Palestinian and otherwise, with positions at every point in between. And Blatt has every right to disagree with Biss on specific issues and approaches to the issue or decisions Biss has made as Evanston’s mayor.
But I find his letter attacking Biss and the editorial board’s endorsement of Biss to be a slap in the face. And I find his calling into question Biss’ personal identity with Judaism and the Jewish community to be, well, beyond the pale, an expression I use sparingly given its association with czarist Russia’s antisemitic and restrictive Pale of Settlement.
I’m a Jew with my own complex feelings about Israel and Palestine and my own religious observance, but I identify very strongly as a Jew culturally, ethnically and spiritually. I wish to state that it is not Blatt’s business (or anyone else’s) to judge Biss, or anyone else, about whether they are “Jewish” enough or not, or whether their Jewish identity is “nominal.”
Beyond all that, and notwithstanding that I no longer live in the district but maintain membership in Beth Emet, the Reform synagogue in Evanston, I personally like and admire Biss and believe he will be an excellent representative for the district should he be elected. Blatt is free to disagree vehemently, but his personal attacks on Biss are inexcusable.
— Mac Brachman, Chicago
Prejudice tests us as a nation
On Oct. 10 and 11, my husband and I attended the Festival of Israeli Cinema being held at the Wayfarer Theaters in Highland Park. Two police officers were in attendance to secure our safety. We greeted them with thanks for their service to the community. But it saddened me to acknowledge that they were protecting me from my fellow citizens. That somehow I was a threat, “the other,” if you will.
My grandparents came here to escape the violence and intolerance in Europe, and yet history repeats. That ignorance and intolerance followed them to these shores. We are now being tested as a nation. Do the values expressed in our sacred documents truly represent us at present? Have some of my fellow Americans been swayed by certain politicians that only one religion is preferred, only one race is superior and only one country is great to the exclusion of all others? It would appear so.
I can only suggest that the one power we have left to reshape this country is to do our duty on Nov. 3 and rid ourselves of the voices that have brought us to this point. Only then can I feel safe and not hunted in this country that I cherish.
— Marla Cowan, Glenview
Spending by campaigns
I used to love this time of year, when the leaves change color and you throw a sweater on when you take an evening walk. But in recent years, I have grown to dislike autumn for the increased political rhetoric and constant barrage of television ads touting candidates running for office.
Every day, we hear about some mega-rich donor dropping buckets of money into the coffers of one party or the other. I just saw that Elon Musk gave the GOP another $267 million on top of the several hundreds of millions he had previously donated. To be fair, there are rich donors trying to buy influence on both sides of the aisle.
In total, each election cycle draws billions of dollars in donations — a good amount of which is spent making and airing television commercials. I find it sickening that so much money is spent unproductively. Instead of helping to feed the hungry, house the poor or work toward finding a cure for cancer, that money goes to broadcasting companies. No wonder the already-huge media companies keep getting purchased in mega-deals; they have guaranteed income from the politicians put in place to oversee them.
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In lieu of debating in an open forum that would allow voters to understand their positions on issues, candidates prefer to use the airwaves to sling mud from a distance.
I would encourage anyone attending a candidate rally to ask them the following: If they had a million dollars, how would they spend it to help their constituents? Then ask them how much money their campaign has spent on the same.
— Steven Fortuna, Naperville
Note to readers
With Halloween coming, we’d like you to share your most memorable experience related to the holiday, either as a child or as an adult. A costume that you’ve never forgotten? A trip to a haunted house that scared you silly? Neighbors who went above and beyond to make things fun for the kids? Send a letter, of no more than 400 words, by Friday, Oct. 23 to [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name and your city/town.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].