Readers sound off on criticizing Israel, NATO expansion and Burt Bacharach

Tauranga, New Zealand: I was pleased to read someone else’s attempt to bring some sanity back into the debate over Israel and Palestine. I’m referring to “When criticism of Israel is and isn’t anti-Semitic” (May 15, 2022) by Jonathan Jacoby.

I’ve been aware of the difference between policies and people for quite some time. Some of my distant relations, the Levys/Levis of Krakow, Poland, were murdered en masse because some Germans decided to confuse Jews with communism. It doesn’t matter who does the conflation — Zionists or antisemites — I regard the people making that conflation as sharing guilt in those murders.

There’s one caveat I would add to his article: When Israel is treated differently because it is a Jewish state, it’s antisemitic. A double standard about Israel is not antisemitic unless it treats Israel differently because of its Jewish character. When Palestinians are denied the right of self-defense or retaliation, yet EZL and Lehi are held up and honored, as are the various settler assault teams that routinely assault Palestinian farmers (under the assumption they are acting in self-defense, though clearly “pretaliation”), and the person so honoring them is doing so because EZL, Lehi and the settlers are Jewish, you have a double standard — Israel being treated differently because it is Jewish.

According to Jacoby’s article, that is antisemitism. So you have a whole lot of antisemitic Jewish Zionists sitting cheek-to-jowl with Tomás de Torquemada and other deplorables! I would love to see various Zionist organizations desperately trying to claw back credibility after seeing this flaw in the semi-official International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism exposed.

I don’t care for antisemitism, as I might have indicated. Wesley Parish

Needham, Mass.: Barcelona’s mayor told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu she is suspending all of the Spanish city’s ties with Israel. The Spanish Inquisition returns to persecute Jews. In 500 years, since the 15th century, the Spanish continue to hate. Carol Fineblum

Johnstown, N.Y.: Re “Climate change is expensive!” (Jan. 10) emphasizes the cost of climate change in terms of natural disasters and extreme weather as well as the death toll. Yet, a 2022 report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points to studies that “demonstrate that a shift to plant-based diets rich in pulses, nuts, fruits, and vegetables could lead to a substantial reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as compared to current dietary patterns in most industrialized countries.” If we are to survive, we need an environmentally sustainable world, with vegetables, fruits and grains replacing animal products in our diet just as wind, solar and other renewable energy sources replace fossil fuels. Shemirah Brachah

Brooklyn: The resolution of the war in Ukraine may lie more with NATO than with Russia. Vladimir Putin is a heartless monster, but when Mikhail Gorbachev ended the Cold War and the USSR collapsed, the Russians had a right to expect a peaceful transition to friendship. That period ended when presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush pushed NATO into Eastern Europe, right up to the Russian border. They never understood how those moves would be seen on the other side. To the Russians, placing NATO at their border was a humiliation, an act of belligerence. Now we’re threatening to expand NATO even further (i.e. Sweden). A solution might involve removing NATO from Eastern Europe in exchange for a Russian retreat from Ukraine. Hopefully, it may not be too late to undo our mistakes of the ‘90s and avert a wider war. Mike Fallo

Forest Hills: Every single time a cop lies about us resisting arrest or running in fear from them and says we must comply, remind them that any resistance was likely for the exact same reason Anne Frank was hiding in an attic. Jim Ranium

Copiague, L.I.: Tell me that Mayor Adams didn’t say “woke mob” and “woke fantasy” in public where strangers could hear him. There are words that one does not use, not because they are offensive, but because they reveal more about the speaker than the speaker would like generally known. Now, I don’t imagine anyone has been deceived, or even much surprised by Adams. We knew he backed the blue through and through, and we were pretty sure he’d be there for developers and landlords. Those things are pretty much required to be a mayor of NYC. But using “woke” that way? Maybe the mayor’s presidential ambitions will find a home in the moderate MAGA wing of the Republican Party. Mitch Kessler

Brooklyn: I have an idea to find resources to fix or alleviate the NYC budget and to increase the salaries of the hero nurses working in public hospitals. Our City Council members should find a legal way to tax any religious organizations and their leaders, i.e. priests, pastors, etc. Their property should be taxed. Francisco J. Castillo

Manhattan: We’ve lost another superstar / who we will never forget / Farewell to Burt Bacharach / we are in your debt / Your music has entertained us / for so many years / You will always be remembered / with smiles and today with tears / You showed us the look of love / showered raindrops on our head / You walked on by with so many awards / What the world needs now is love, you said. Phoebe Celentano

Bronx: To Voicer Kevin Hanley: If your concerns are sincere regarding Rep. “Mad” Marjorie Taylor Greene and her alleged disappointment in the amount of her salary, don’t advise her to waste time with the NRA or even the great DT. Instead, steer her in the direction of the boob presently in the White House and his deadbeat son. They are the true champions of the get-rich-quick scheme at the small cost of morals, honor, ethics and pride. Joe Schulok

Manhattan: I used to respect Bramhall but Daily News, you’ve sunk to a new low in the Feb. 9 edition. I don’t care what he thinks of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s mental acuity, but a drawing of someone’s brain as being in their mouth (that looked like a pink-colored rectum) was absolutely disgusting. Phoebe Bardot

Monroe, N.J.: During his speech, Biden pats himself on the back for all the new jobs that were created. On Thursday, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the strong job market will cause another rate hike. People working is bad? High interest is good? I don’t understand what the government wants besides keeping Americans under its thumb. John Ray

Hoboken: To Michel Faulkner (“Does God play football?” op-ed, Feb. 9): Why do you believe God had a hand in everything? You suggest that Damar Hamlin’s recovery was somehow orchestrated by God, but why did it happen to him in the first place? Does God have some sort of sick sense of humor where he puts people in peril and then saves them to receive his glory? Why do winning players always thank God for watching over them? Was the losing team not worthy? And why did God revive Hamlin instead of curing the thousands of adolescents who are dying from some form of cancer? Just asking. Joe Ewansky

Matawan, N.J.: It seems that the “Curse of Chris Morris,” which began at a New Jersey Nets game I attended at Rutgers University when he tilted his sneakers up while sitting on the bench and revealed his message “Trade Me,” is still haunting the Nets all these years later. Jason, you should have a lot in common with Kyrie Irving to talk about as you both forced your way out of a team that you were supposed to lead to victory. Screw the ticket-buying public who have to work to afford the tickets that keep you employed. Hopefully, the Nets will now establish a core of players that play to win and bring joy, not headaches, to their fans. Robert Wyshynski