To the editor: I find Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing cronies reprehensible. I hate what has happened to the innocents of Gaza while Hamas is still holding over 100 hostages. (“California college campuses become lightning rods for pro-Palestinian protests,” May 1)
That said, where are the student protests over the harassment and displacement of the Rohingya by the Myanmar junta? Where are the protests against the genocide of the Uyghurs in China? Where are the protests against Russia for invading a sovereign nation, attacking civilians and kidnapping children to take them to Russia?
I have not seen any of those student protesters direct their animosity against these evil government acts; only Israel is the focus of student protests.
Could it be because Israel is a Jewish state? This is a serious question that needs answers.
Barbara H. Bergen, Los Angeles
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To the editor: I am a proud Jewish academic. Anti-Semitism is horrible and should have no place in our society.
However, nothing that is happening to Jews in this country equals or exceeds the devastation that Palestinians have suffered in Gaza. Does recognizing that make me an anti-Semite?
Fred Smoller, Orange
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To the editor: The occupation of university facilities is a tactic of the campus protests of the 1960s and 1970s against the Vietnam War. But universities are missing a great opportunity to recover another activity from that time: teaching.
What better place and time than now to invite faculty to teach the history of the area, along with contributions from political science, sociology, and other departments, sharing views from all sides of the debate?
It may not change your mind, but it is doing what universities are supposed to do: teach critical thinking and the importance of context.
Debra Kaufman, Venice
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To the editor: I would like to ask those protesting the war in Gaza: what have you achieved?
You have not changed the trajectory of the war. He has not convinced the United States to stop supporting Israel. You have not won favor with songs of “from the river to the sea.”
What it has done is ruin the joy of commencement exercises for students who deserve to celebrate their educational journey with all the pomp and ceremony they deserve.
Susan Grossman, Los Angeles
