Letters to the editor

Jewish Useful Idiots
What do Hannah Einbinder, Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer have in common? (“‘Free Palestine,’ Jewish actor Hannah Einbinder says in Emmys speech,” online, Sept. 15). They top my list of Useful Jewish Idiots.

Useful to whom?

Well, here’s who: Hamas, the terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel. This is not just my opinion. Einbinder, who added “Free Palestine” to her Emmy Award acceptance speech, was just recognized by Quds, the news outlet that serves as a mouthpiece for Hamas, the Jewish Journal reported. Quds praises and approves Hannah Einbinder!

The Useful Idiots have added their Jewish names to the enormous hordes of non-Jews from all walks of life who are in there pitching, with all their might, against Israel: Javier Barden, Susan Sarandon, Summer Lee, the Squad, Tucker Carlson, Cynthia Nixon, etc. Of course these are the garden variety non-Jewish antisemites.

But are any of the antisemites or Useful Idiots, especially the Jewish ones, aware of the following facts?

• Since its establishment in 1948, in order to survive, Israel has fought in at least 10 major wars and two large-scale Palestinian intifadas, in addition to many smaller military operations.

• At least three offers of statehood for Palestinians were rejected.

• Over $40 billion dollars in aid was sent to the Palestinian territories between 1994 and 2020.

• Despite the $40 billion in aid, the Palestinian economy remained fragile, while 350-450 miles of secret tunnels were constructed.

• On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel resulting in the deaths of 1,200 innocent people, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of more than 250 others. This attack is widely documented as an assault of extreme savagery against a civilian population. The atrocities included sexual violence and torture and is considered to be the worst assault on Jews since the Holocaust.

• Israel continues to practice tikkun olam — repairing the world —through medical and scientific breakthroughs including lab-grown human kidney tissue, spinal cord transplantation and gene therapy for antibiotic resistance.

• Israel offers disaster and humanitarian relief all over the world: Haiti (earthquake, 2010); Japan (tsunami, 2011); Brazil (dam collapse, 2019); Turkey and Syria (earthquake, 2023); plus dozens of non-governmental disaster relief efforts, i.e., medical and developmental projects.

Why did Jewish Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer make the Useful Jewish Idiot list? Sanders has tried to block aid to Israel, and Schumer denounced Benjamin Netanyahu on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

My belief is that Hashem, who waits for us all, will have questions for them.

Judith Robinson
Pittsburgh

Summer Lee’s accusations ignore the complex realities of war
In “Summer Lee escalates criticism of Israel, calls for U.S. arms embargo amid Gaza war” (Sept. 19), it’s reported that Lee once again accuses Israel of genocide. I wonder:

If Lee were in Congress in 1945, would she have accused the Allies of genocide after the firebombing of Dresden in February 1945, which killed 25,000 civilians? A month later 100,000 Japanese were killed in the firebombing of Tokyo. And we all know about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Were the Allies guilty of genocide? The loss of life of German and Japanese civilians was horrific but the Allies were responding to acts of great evil by the German and Japanese governments. The same could be said of the war Israel is waging in Gaza, a response to Oct. 7.

The slaughter of Jews by the Nazis was different. German Jews were killed because they were Jews. Prior to the rise of the Nazi regime they lived peacefully alongside their fellow German citizens. What German Jews experienced under the Nazis cannot be compared to what is happening in Gaza today. What the Jews experienced in Nazi Germany was genocide. What the Gazan Palestinians are experiencing is due to decades of confrontation and bloodshed. Summer Lee should educate herself on the difference.

Mitchell Nyer
Pittsburgh