Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.
Mayor deserves praise
for calling out brutality
Re: “Jewish group urges mayor to quit” (Page B1, Dec. 20).
Unfortunately, antisemitism has been around for a long time, but its flames have been fanned recently by the wanton slaughter of thousands of innocent women and children in Gaza.
As for accountability, look to Benjamin Netanyahu, who has equated Zionism with Judaism, and to our Congress, which has unanimously and repeatedly appropriated our tax dollars to fund this massacre.
Mayor Martinez is calling attention to a genocide. He should be applauded, not censored.
Forrest Cioppa
Benicia
Richmond mayor
champions underdogs
Re: “Jewish group urges mayor to quit” (Page B1, Dec. 20).
I fully support Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez and hope he is reelected next year. He had the fortitude to publicly admit he made a mistake with his LinkedIn posts about the Bondi Beach shootings and has apologized.
Martinez denounces violence in all forms, whether killing people at a Jewish celebration in Australia or the slaughter by Israeli Defense Forces of more than 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Martinez empathizes with the underdog. Growing up in Texas as a poor Mexican-American kid with a stutter, he was likely bullied at school, and thus recognizes the urge to retaliate that stems from such humiliation. But rather than acting on that urge, he has devoted his life to fairness, nonviolence and uplifting the oppressed.
Martinez supports people of all faiths and recognizes the distinction between Judaism and the Zionist ideology that has placed Palestinians under brutal occupation for the last 77 years.
Marilyn Langlois
Richmond
Law stifles ability to
teach about antisemitism
Re: “Gesture of hate unites allies” (Page A1, Dec. 22).
There is no place anywhere for antisemitism, just as there is no place for islamophobia, racism, sexism or any other form of hatred.
Author Caelyn Pender is correct that education is critical to eradicating antisemitism. But sadly, recently passed AB 715, the main educational vehicle for addressing antisemitism, is not a panacea. With its emphasis on antisemitism and not the other “isms,” it falls short. By embracing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, AB715, which conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, it silences voices, like mine, critical of Israel that abhor antisemitism.
We can and must do better.
Eleanor Levine
Oakland
For safety, deport those
who lack documentation
Re: “San Jose: Man charged in Bambi Larson killing that spurred sanctuary fight headed for conservatorship after trial clock runs out” (Dec. 19).
Am I the only one outraged that a man accused of stabbing a woman to death six years ago, who had been the subject of repeated federal detainer requests, was allowed to stay in this country due to the sanctuary policy of Santa Clara County?
Now, at age 31, he will be locked up in a psychiatric facility at the expense of the taxpayers for the foreseeable future. This is a case that demonstrates the need to deport people who are here illegally, despite the protest of do-gooders who are fortunate to have avoided the consequences of a horrendous crime like this.
Charles Margiotta
Roseville
Leave a Reply