To the editor: I find Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing cronies reprehensible. I detest what has happened to innocent Gazans while Hamas still holds more than 100 hostages. (“California college campuses become lightning rods for pro-Palestinian protests,” May 1)
Having said that, where are the student protests over the Myanmar junta harassing and displacing the Rohingya? Where are the protests against China’s genocide of the Uyghurs? Where are the protests against Russia for invading a sovereign nation, targeting civilians and kidnapping children to take to Russia?
I haven’t seen any of those protesting students direct their animus against these evil government acts — it’s only Israel that’s the focus of student protests.
Could it be because Israel is a Jewish state? This is a serious question that needs answers.
Barbara H. Bergen, Los Angeles
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To the editor: I am a proud Jewish academic. Antisemitism is horrible and should have no place in our society.
Nevertheless, nothing that is happening to Jews in this country is equal to or surpasses the devastation that has befallen the Palestinians in Gaza. Does acknowledging that make me an antisemite?
Fred Smoller, Orange
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To the editor: The occupation of university facilities is a tactic from campus protests of the 1960s and 70s against the Vietnam War. But universities are missing a great opportunity to bring back another activity of that era: the teach-in.
What better place and time than this is there to invite professors to teach the area’s history, along with contributions from political science, sociology and other departments, sharing points of view, from all sides of the debate?
It may not change minds, but it’s doing what universities are supposed to do: teach critical thinking and the importance of context.
Debra Kaufman, Venice
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To the editor: I’d like to ask those protesting the war in Gaza — what have you accomplished?
You have not changed the trajectory of the war. You have not convinced the United States to halt its support of Israel. You have not curried favor with chants of “from the river to the sea.”
What you have done is ruined the joy of commencement exercises for students who deserve to celebrate their educational journey with all the pomp and ceremony they have rightfully earned.
Susan Grossman, Los Angeles
