Letters to the Editor: Student activists are pushing the lie that Israelis are 'settler colonizers'

Los Angeles Times Opinion
·3 min read
953
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14: Students participate in a protest in support of Palestine and for free speech at Columbia University campus on November 14, 2023 in New York City. The university suspended two student organizations, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voices for Peace, for violating what was called university policies. The tense atmosphere at many college campuses has increased as student groups, activists and others have protested both in support of Israel and of Palestine. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Students participate in a protest supporting Palestine at Columbia University in New York on Nov. 14. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

To the editor: Emphasizing Israel as a post-Holocaust creation is a way in which the Jewish state's enemies falsely accuse the indigenous Jewish people as "colonizers." ("U.S. college campuses have embraced the Palestinian cause like never before. The story began decades ago," Dec. 7)

In fact, the land of Israel is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people dating back to about 1400 BCE. The Jews lived there until 70 CE, when they were conquered by the Roman Empire. The Arch of Titus in Rome shows the menorah from the Jewish Holy Temple being carried off as spoils.

In 1925, in the pamplet "A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem," the Supreme Muslim Council stated in reference to the Temple Mount: "The site is one of the oldest in the world… Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute."

Accusing the Jewish people of colonizing the land of Israel is like accusing the Sioux tribes of colonizing North and South Dakota.

Pamela Scheinman, Chicago

..

To the editor: Russia is carrying out an unlawful invasion of a sovereign nation and committing numerous war crimes. Yet the students who oppose Israel do not demonstrate against these actual war crimes.

China is committing genocide against its Muslim minority, the Uyghurs. There are no mass demonstrations against that country.

Syria has massacred its rebellious populations in part by killing them in illegal chemical attacks. Where are the student protests against Syria?

In seems that in general, these students are not very concerned about unjust, illegal wars or mass killings in most countries. They are only concerned when a Jewish state defends itself against a Palestinian group that has attacked it.

Anyone smell antisemitism?

Lawrence Fromm, San Clemente

..

To the editor: It is hardly reassuring that Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi thinks that his students' "sloppy thinking" about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is "undermining the cause."

Perhaps Khalidi should ask himself what he has done or might do to promote more critical thinking and thoughtful reflection on the complex subject. Perhaps such examination might undermine the "cause" itself, whatever it is, as based on flawed historical analysis and racist, anti-Jewish or anti-Palestinian animus.

Carl Selkin, Pasadena

..

To the editor: Some letters have recently appeared that attempt to compare the military response by Israel to that of the United States during World War II when we and our allies commenced the bombing of the cities of Germany, killing many innocent civilians in the process.

Few would argue that the innocents should have been held accountable for the excesses of the German military forces.

In the Gaza Strip, we are witnessing again excessive force that is killing innocent people. The axiom that those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat past mistakes is highly relevant.

Joseph Tillotson, Redondo Beach

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.