Letters to the editor

Article about Tim Walz misleading
I read a headline in the Aug. 9 edition of the Chronicle stating, “Tim Walz, pro-Israel governor of Minnesota,” and then found an article online reporting that Walz is apparently a supporter of the Muslim cleric Imam Asad Zaman. Zaman has posted links to a pro-Hitler film on his Facebook page and praised Hamas, going so far as to share official Hamas press releases, and praised the Oct. 7 attack.

Walz’s administration donated $100,000 to the imam’s group, Muslim American Society of Minnesota, a group described by federal prosecutors as an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Walz and Zaman have appeared on stage together at political events in Minnesota.

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Describing Walz as a friend of Israel is a dangerous misreporting of the facts.

I hope a writer for the Chronicle dives into the information and writes an article about the real Tim Walz, not the wishful thinking version of him.

Georgia Atkin
O’Hara Township

Spiegler’s bar too low; Frank’s Fetterman bashing misplaced
In response to Oren Spiegler’s thanking Sen. Schumer for denouncing antisemitic graffiti in Pittsburgh (“Praise for Schumer,” Aug. 9), could we set the bar higher? Even Summer Lee condemned the defacement of a house of worship. Could we demand that our representatives support Israel and her elected leaders? Israel is a democracy with a government elected by the people. At a time when Israelis live in mortal peril, it is unconscionable for those with no skin in the game to tell Israel what to do. And most of those people are Democrats. They have enabled Iran monetarily, delegitimized Israel by parroting every unsubstantiated casualty claim and prevented Israel from responding with the strength needed to deter her enemies. And so here we are, with Iran emboldened and threatening another direct attack. Biden’s policies have cost many Israeli lives and have fostered the growth of antisemitism on America’s campuses and streets.

In response to Ivan Frank’s Fetterman bashing (“Fetterman has gone a ‘bridge too far,’” Aug. 9), Sen. John Fetterman is the rare Democrat who has unashamedly and unapologetically stood with Israel. He respects Israel’s right to set her own policies to protect her people. He doesn’t expect Israel to be a sitting duck, limited to defense without permission to preempt the enemy’s truly genocidal intentions (as do most of Israel’s “close allies”). He respects Israel’s assessment of what a two-state solution would mean for Jewish survival and recognizes her just fight against a neighbor that rapes, beheads, kidnaps and burns entire families alive. He trusts Israel, as a moral and decent nation that values life, to get the job done in the most moral way possible. Israel has demonstrated this to be true by achieving the lowest combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio in history.

The polls are in. Most Israelis recognize the dangers of a two-state solution and don’t support a hostage deal made at the cost of Israel’s security. Most Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza, condone the Oct. 7 attack and support Hamas. Contrary to the narrative of the vocal left (which represents only about 20% of the Israeli population), the government of Israel is not separate from the people of Israel.

No one believes Hamas has been defeated. Israel uncovers more tunnels and munition caches daily and is still under rocket siege from Gaza. Calling for an end to hostilities means leaving Hamas and Hezbollah with the capability and intention of destroying Israel. Israelis are not “settlers” in their own land. Nor are they “oppressors.” Israel must have the security that any nation should expect and which — as Hamas and Hezbollah demonstrate daily — she does not have.

Dr. Miriam Weiss
Squirrel Hill

Punishing Hamas should not be left/right issue
In dueling letters of Aug. 9 and Aug. 16, Ivan Frank (“Fetterman has gone a ‘bridge too far’”) and Rocky Wice (“Is there even a bridge?”), two men whom I know and respect, offer opposing views of Sen. John Fetterman’s position on the war in Gaza. What struck me most about Wice’s letter was not his viewpoint, but that he described Frank’s position as “a laundry list of … issues that the left always tosses out.”

This should not be viewed as a left/right ideological fight. This is about finding the appropriate response to a terrorist attack. Arguing from ideological corners is not the way to achieve the goals of returning the hostages and punishing Hamas by removing it from political power.

Alfred B. (Fred) Bortz
Pittsburgh

Antisemitic resolution signed by the uninformed
Once again, the insidious forces of the extreme left tried to demonize and delegitimize Israel. The latest antisemitic outrage is the reprehensible petition, submitted by the Democratic Socialists of America, proposing a Pittsburgh referendum to boycott Israel (“Jewish Federation, city controller challenge anti-Israel referendum,” Aug. 16).

Have these self-anointed guardians of our moral fabric proposed any other boycotts? Perhaps a boycott of China over its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities who have been moved to “re-education camps,” where they are subjected to forced labor and abusive political indoctrination? Or, perhaps, against China’s decades-long effort to eradicate Tibetan cultural and religious identity?

No, it appears that only Israel is the consistent target of their obnoxious self-righteousness. On Oct. 7, the day of the massacres and before any Israeli response, DSA posted the following on its website: “End the Violence, End the Occupation, Free Palestine. DSA is steadfast in expressing our solidarity with Palestine. Today’s events are a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime … As socialists, we must act.”
The DSA website shows no calls “to act” for other incidents of human suffering throughout the world. It is curiously selective in its moral outrage. Its hypocrisy is nauseating. Its antisemitism is blatant.

In addition to the malevolent supporters of this resolution, there are the ill-informed, misinformed and disinformed supporters. My wife and I both spoke with volunteers collecting petition signatures at the Squirrel Hill farmers market. Their utter ignorance concerning the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict and the current war was manifestly evident. I spoke with one young woman who literally knew nothing. Her only argument concerned the images of suffering children and how the suffering must stop. I do not question her sincerity, but her reaction falls precisely into the Hamas strategy: Imbed yourself in the civilian population, dress your army in civilian clothes, use civilians as human shields, make every effort to show civilian suffering even if you must cause the suffering yourself, exaggerate the number of civilian deaths and then put all the blame on Israel.

The strategy works. Those who don’t understand the context of the war are swayed by the images of suffering. They are oblivious to Hamas’ genocidal goal to destroy Israel and all of the Jews living there. They are unaware that Hamas is a terrorist tentacle of Tehran (along with Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Syrian and Iraqi militias) against whom Israel is fighting an existential war. They are blind to Israel’s extensive efforts to protect civilians. John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point, maintains that Israel has created a new standard for urban warfare in the caution it takes to prevent civilian deaths.

This disgusting resolution was proposed by hateful antisemites in order to demonize Israel. It would have little effect on Israel and only harm Pittsburgh. There is little doubt it was signed primarily by ill-informed people, swayed by images of war shown through biased mainstream news and crazed social media posts.

Reuven Hoch
Pittsburgh