Letters to the editor

A response to “Why progressives must retire the slogan ‘free Palestine’ (June 20, online)
On May 27, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the slogan “Free Palestine” as exemplifying “the death-driven hatred of antisemitism.” That description is no exaggeration. This slogan calls for murder of the Jews in the same manner as does a swastika painted on the wall of a synagogue or an article in Der Stürmer, a German newspaper published from 1923 to 1945. Today, swastikas are illegal in Germany, Austria and some other countries. The newspaper’s editor, Julius Streicher, was hanged for crimes against humanity — for incitement against the Jews. Nowadays, incitement to murder Jews is viewed by many as protected speech.

The phrase “Free Palestine” may sound like a call for justice, but in substance and context, it calls for the elimination of Israel. Historically, “Palestine” has stood for the Land of Israel. This meaning stems from the Emperor Hadrian’s renaming Judea into “Syria Palaestina” to erase the memory of the Jewish state and Jews. Its true modern meaning includes any land formerly covered by the League of Nations’ British Mandate for Palestine. It is enshrined into international law by the 1920 San Remo resolution, explicitly recognizing the territory as the Jewish national home, and Article 80 of the U.N. Charter affirming the continuity of territorial treaties. The Mandate’s documents and currency, next to “Palestine” in English, bore Hebrew initials for “Eretz Yisrael,” the Land of Israel.

Today, this territory includes the Kingdom of Jordan, which was ethnically cleansed of Jews and prohibits them from residing there; Gaza; Israel; and Judea and Samaria. The latter were renamed the “West Bank” by Jordan during its occupation of the area, because Jordan itself was originally established by the UK in the Mandate territory to the east of the Jordan river.
Today’s territorial dispute, however, is not over boundaries but over existence. From 1948 to 1967, neither Jordan, nor Egypt that occupied Gaza, nor local Arabs produced any movement for a “Palestinian state.” The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964 — not to “liberate” the Jordan-occupied “West Bank,” but to destroy Israel. That remains its goal. The PLO, now recognized as the Palestinian Authority, continues to incite and reward terrorism.

“Free Palestine,” demanded by the anti-Israel mobs, means exactly what the Nazi slogans “Judenrein” and “Judenfrei” meant: free of Jews. That is by definition a call for genocide.

This is not a theoretical concern. One of us lives in Schenley Farms, where the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh displays signs on its lawn reading “Free Palestine” and “Stop Genocide.” The second slogan is a blood libel, accusing Jews of committing the crimes their enemies perpetrate.

Free speech does not mean speech free of consequences. Americans have the right to protest antisemitic incitement — especially when it appears in our own neighborhoods. When a community center publicly displays slogans that call for the eradication of another people, it ceases to be an innocent bystander in a political conflict.

This is not just about Israel. It is about Jewish safety in America.

Michael Vanyukov and Stuart Pavilack
Pittsburgh

Fetterman’s integrity speaks louder than his style
I wish I had written the letter to the editor that Jonathan Schmerling wrote about Sen. John Fetterman (“Fetterman serves all Pennsylvanians, not just Democrats,” June 20). It articulates everything I have always admired about him. I am so happy that I am not alone in my appreciation for Fetterman’s independent thinking.

I do, however, respectfully disagree with one point: I do not care what Fetterman wears — I care that he cares!

Sharyn Wolfson
Pittsburgh