For Israelis and Palestinians, grief remains a constant | Opinion

Terrorism is evil

Terrorism never has any justification. Anyone that vacates the right of others to exist peacefully vacates the right of themselves to exist peacefully. When peace is vacated, humanity is vacated.

The same is true of hate. Hate never has any justification. When compassion is vacated, so is humanity.

There is nothing divine about either terrorism or hate — both are diabolic. There is no such thing as a “Holy War,” all war is diabolic. Those who do not accept the diversity of others, do not allow the equality of others, will not treat others equitably, and will attempt to exclude their voice and free will in life, do not deserve to be accepted, do not deserve equality or equity, and do not deserve to have their voice heard or their free will in life abided.

There are those among us who want to dominate, subjugate, control, and own others and force them to be the vanity of their own self-image. This is cruelty and not humanity.

Acceptance and compassion are the human way and the only humanity will persist. If we do not awaken to this, we will be devoured by a nightmare made real.

Robert Moreland, Lexington

Constant grief

My father is an 84-year-old Palestinian, born near Bethlehem in 1939 in the town of Battir. He is not a terrorist. He is an electrical engineer.

He is a man who escaped the unlivable conditions in Palestine 60 years ago and now watches yet another generation endure unimaginable suffering.

He sheltered in caves of Bethlehem for one year in 1948 with his family, as over 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed; the state of Israel was being established. When my father returned to his house, as a 10-year-old boy, his home was standing, yet villages across the railroad tracks were gone. For those many Palestinian families who survived this trauma, yet no longer had homes, camps were established, such as those in the Gaza strip.

This is a complicated human catastrophe. The Israel-Palestinian grief remains a constant. The families of Gaza, people marginalized by their mere existence, will not be able to pay for the terrorist attack last weekend. They have nothing to give. They never did. The tragedy unfolding now should be viewed as such. I pray our leaders will be able to see a path out of this seemingly forever failure to establish a plan for peaceful co-existence.

Miriam Lightfoot, Lexington

Israeli conflict

Let’s hope Israel doesn’t make the same mistake that the U.S. made in Vietnam during the incursion into Cambodia in May 1970. Israel’s campaign should have no time limits nor limitations on where they can strike or how much destruction they can inflict; they must remove Hamas as an evil in the area. Only with Hamas’s elimination can Israel find security and protect her people from future carnage.

The American thrust into Cambodia was limited in duration and limited to 30 klicks when it should have been an unlimited deeper thrust. Sanctuaries were destroyed but not totally eradicated as the enemy rebuilt to return later to kill more Americans. It was a partial success.

Hopefully, Israel will permanently destroy Hamas as a military, terrorist and political entity, and free the Palestinian people from the reign of terror existing in Gaza since 2007 when Hamas took control. In war, decisive measures of total destruction have proven to bring good results; Rome against Carthage, Genghis Khan against China, Sherman in Georgia and the U.S. against Japan. Evil forces only understand the same brutality they inflict on others. With Biden’s open borders policies, the devastation seen in Israel is sadly coming to America!

Robert Adams, Lexington

Cameron’s positions

I noticed that when the Republican candidate for governor, Ky. Attorney General Daniel Cameron, defended himself last week from Gov. Andy Beshear’s advertisement regarding his extreme position on abortion, he didn’t mention anything about the survivor, Hadley, at all.

When he was elected attorney general, he promised to do something about one of Kentucky’s worst claims to fame: child abuse. In his defense against Hadley’s rightful charge against him, Cameron said he cared. He cared about prosecuting the abusive stepfather and seemed to care about saving pregnancy tissue. But in my opinion, he doesn’t care about the lives of pregnant people in Kentucky, a state with inordinately high negative pregnancy outcomes.

That’s not pro-life. That’s using a politicized issue to win political power.

Joy Miracle, Nicholasville

Voting Blue

Republican politicians calling other people “LIAR” makes the devil blush.

Our governor’s race with Gov. Andy Beshear running for reelection enjoys national attention. Beshear’s popularity is well known as the guy who pulled Kentucky through a pandemic and multiple weather disasters with dignity, caring and respect while enduring constant law suits from Republicans. Frankfort’s supermajority was happy wasting taxpayers money on legal fees instead of teacher raises and funding statewide schools.

Nothing blew-up against Republicans like voters “NO” to Amendments 1 and 2: Adding days, collecting more money, power grabbing laws and a “Trigger Law” abortion ban that failed to include exceptions in the case of rape and incest. Republicans overreaching law touching every female in Kentucky is shocking, cruel and sick.

Will voters surprise Republicans again? Beshear needs all five constitutional officers in the same party to work effectively together for even more wealth, success and protections for us. Beshear defied Republicans and won. The state is richer than ever and voters want women to know they will be safe in Kentucky.

What a great PR billboard sign it will make. “Welcome to Kentucky - Stupid doesn’t live here anymore.”

Judy Rembacki, Georgetown

Beshear leads

A recent headline said, “Ky. Governor poll shows Beshear with a big lead over Cameron” was the best news I have heard in months. Thank you, Kentuckians, for realizing that we are so fortunate to have the one of the best governors in the U.S. and for realizing that it is extremely important to keep him for another four years. This is neither a comment on Cameron nor Republicans vs. Democrats, but rather a considered opinion about what is good for Kentucky.

Harry Clarke, Lexington

Infrastructure investment

With announcements of infrastructure investments of rail, old issues arise. Was infrastructure investment in roads or bridges better than investment for access to fast passenger rail travel, maybe down interstate highway land? Why not invest in safe methods of ride sharing with ID cards and computerized methods for finding drivers going in the same direction?

We need to cut down on individual car ownership and our individuals’ investments as well as our desperate need for cars. Will we replace the massive number of semi-trucks on the roads, burning diesel and contributing to pollution now? We need to make sure truck drivers are not abused by the change while we think of ways to share work, not just create jobs.

It’s all a mistake that needs philosophical changes in American social, economic and political thinking. We cannot continue to ravish the earth for momentary pleasures. We cannot set, and advertise to the world, a lifestyle of “spend, spend, spend” while driving prices of our own simple living here up for many people.

The future is not going to be a pleasant task, or sight to live in, for those we are forcing our mistakes on.

Don Pratt, Lexington

Voting power

Our news streams are full of political information, opinions and polling results. This is a friendly reminder that our votes get the final say. Please vote.

Karen Gerstle, Lexington

School choice

News flash for Rep. Josh Calloway (R-Irvington) who said, “One of the single greatest things we can do to clean up that [public education] system is to give parents choice and give them the opportunity to choose where they send their child to be educated.”

Parents already have that choice. But they do not have the right to ask someone else to pay for it. Nor should they.

Carole Boyd, Lexington

Crime reality

The media can capture hundreds of urban youth of color ravaging high-end stores, shattering store fronts and hauling out thousands of dollars worth of retail goods. Viral videos expose this urban decay for all the world to see. Social media coordinates and facilitates these attacks. Urban density is the perfect venue to display these horrendous events.

What we seldom see are the hundreds of thousands of primarily white crimes that includes car thefts, car break-ins, garage thefts, porch bandits, and thefts of catalytic converters, copper, trade tools, farm equipment, guns and even animals. Viral video seldom catches these geographically diverse events. Flea markets fence these items every day without conscious recognition of the fruits of these theft events.

We need to give equal recognition to urban, suburban and rural theft. Theft is driven by both poverty and opportunistic greed. Let’s recognize theft as an equal opportunity offender.

Raymond Sabbatine, Lexington

Compiled by Liz Carey